Biography

The Child is Father of the Man

Posted on November 17, 2018 by Karen Thomas Olsen

I hope you are enjoying this continued story about my father and his family. Throughout Dad’s life, from childhood to deathbed, Dad tended to bubble with a kind of joy, a Jesus-joy. It made him delightful to many and peculiar to others. William Wordsworth’s poem, “My Heart Leaps Up” reminds me of my father’s heart — established in childhood, shaping the man and his life.

My Heart Leaps Up

My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me die!
The Child is father of the Man;
And I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety. Continue reading →

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The Problem Was the House

Posted on October 25, 2018 by Karen Thomas Olsen

Part III: We left off here:

“The problem was the house. Now, the house becomes a main character in this real life story.”

If I were writing a book about my dad and his family (which I’m not), I could develop this “main character”, the house,  beyond the details I’ve been given. I’m thinking of houses as characters in literature.

I think of the professor’s house in C. S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.  Or, there’s  221B Baker Street in London, the “home” Sir Arthur Conan Doyle creates for his character, Sherlock Holmes. Last summer, my first daughter visited a place in London, a museum, actually designed to match Doyle’s descriptions of Holme’s apartment! Continue reading →

Categories: Biography, Joy & Suffering -- Good & Evil, Moving | Tags: , | 2 Comments

From Whence Marion Came

Posted on October 12, 2018 by Karen Thomas Olsen

I began the story about my father in my last post, just a week ago. Since this is my father’s birthday month, and 100 years have passed since his birth, I want to post multiple times this October, narrating some of his story.

You may want to go back and read the previous post, if you haven’t, and enjoy the pictures.

So, I left you wondering,  what happened to Marion and his family when he was ten years old? To make sense of it, we have to look back further in time. Before Marion was born.

Continue reading →

Categories: Biography, Christian Reader, Joy & Suffering -- Good & Evil | Tags: | Leave a comment

Happy 100th Birthday, Dad! The Breeze Still Blows

Posted on October 5, 2018 by Karen Thomas Olsen

I’ve been anticipating this day for a year.  October 5, 2018 marks the 100 year anniversary of my father’s birth.

Marion Ray Thomas at age 2.

“Happy Birthday, Dad!”

I called him “Daddy” most of my life. Marion Ray Thomas. Born on October 5, 1918 and died on July 26, 2004 at the age of 85, nearing 86. I miss him. In his latter more quiet years, I heard him exclaim numerous times, “Oh, I’m just a happy boy!” Dad faced many troubles and stressors, and often responded emotionally, but always found equilibrium, returning to his “happy boy” position in Jesus.

Dad was a gardener, grocer, factory worker, public school teacher, Brethren preacher/church planter, poet, letter-to-the-editor writer, and writer in general. I’ve been reading some of his journal writings and poems.

Sometimes, he wrote on any paper he could reach. Around the year 2000, he handed me a 9 x 12 inch sheet of pink construction paper on which he had written Continue reading →

Categories: Biography, Christian Reader, Spiritual Growth | Tags: | 4 Comments

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