Impressions-Year 2000

Constantina.  It had been 7 years since I had visited my Christian family in Peru, 37 years since I arrived there with Glenn and 7 children in 1963.  (Our 8th child, Stephen, was born in Lima.)  I can hardly believe it, but in looking over the notes of my trip, I discovered that in 30 [...]

Neighbors

                The hazards, the hazards.  Lince was certainly not the most inner of the inner cities.  Yet her neighborhood became a center for drug dealing.            The house, like most houses in
Lima, had a “front” entrance and a “back” entrance, but they were both on the street.  In the earlier days it had been a one [...]

Early Morning Bus Ride

After Constantina left our home, she became a single mother.  With faith and determination she supported herself and her son by selling clothing in a booth in a small market.  
  Every night she walked home with her little son, down the corridor at the side of the house, past the druggies, and up three flights [...]

The girl from the mountains

“What little we learned about her early life came to us in bits and pieces.  We thought she was from Arequipa, the second largest city in
Peru.  But when Glenn planned a trip to
Arequipa and asked if she might like for him to take something to her parents, she became nervous and evasive. 
            A few [...]

Chapter Two

Chapter 2 
What I wrote 40 years ago:                “I first met her at our front gate.  She was so short I could not see her black hair until I opened the gate.  At five feet three I had most often looked up to people.  It was hard to get used to looking down.                “We were mutually [...]

Chapter One

                                I turned to the window to rest my eyes.  Constantina turned from the small desk and lifted her pencil from the paper. When she knew she had my attention she said, “Hermana, once you told me you were going to write a story of my life.”Oh dear, did I tell her that?  Many times [...]

A Day at Los Incas 465

                Constantina felt her sister Francisca’s body tighten and stretch as they lay together on the narrow cot.  Then Francisca arose quickly, dressed, and quietly let herself out the door to spend the day as a housemaid for an elderly German couple.                Constantina stretched to the full length of the cot and enjoyed the luxury [...]