Posts by Saloma Furlong
A Letter from Anna
This past week I have finally heard from Anna. She writes that she is sewing herself new clothes, shelling popcorn, getting ready for church to be held at her sister’s place, and putting a quilt in frame for an “English” lady. Then I read this: Saloma and David, I am so sorry I didn’t know…
Read MoreSnow and About Anna
Yesterday morning I awoke to what sounded like a convoy of trucks going across the bridge over the Connecticut River. It was the wind roaring all around the house. The snow had been coming down all night apparently, and from the sound of that wind, we were having the blizzard that had been predicted. At…
Read MoreAnna’s Return
Today was a rainy, drippy, sad day that fit my mood exactly. I am still reeling from this past weekend. I did something that I will probably wonder for the rest of my life whether it was the right thing or not. For some time now, Anna has been planning to return to her community.…
Read MoreThe Juncture of Three Cultures
Ever since I’ve gotten to know Anna Miller, the young woman who lives with us, I’ve said that the difference between her Swartzentruber community and the Amish community where I came from is about as great as the difference between my community and the outside world. In fact, Anna’s group called anyone who is not…
Read MoreFracking in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania
A friend recently sent me a link to an article in On Earth Magazine called “Fracking the Amish” that reports the conflict in the Amish settlement in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, near the Ohio border. I have been to this community on two occasions. My maternal grandmother grew up there. I wrote a story called “Sarah’s…
Read MoreThe Amish, Misunderstood Again
Many of the misconceptions of the Amish come about because someone misunderstands their ways and then imposes their values on the Amish. This is how the misconception of “rumspringa” became so widespread… the people making a documentary The Devil’s Playground misconstrued the idea of what “rumpspringa” is all about. Now the misunderstanding and misrepresentation of the…
Read MoreMemory Photos
I have no actual photos of me when I was a baby or a very young child. But I do have “Amish” photos or “memory” photos that were passed down to me from my mother. I treasure these, for they give me a snapshot in time that becomes vivid when I use my imagination. The…
Read MoreIn One Year…
A New Year’s resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other. ~ Author Unknown à 1979 1980à In the beginning of 1979, I made 9 (NINE!) New Year’s resolutions. Here is what I listed in my journal on January 2, 1979: 1. Pray and read the Bible regularly2. Go on a sensible diet3.…
Read MoreA Day of Rest
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: […] For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore…
Read MoreCelebrating Light and Daring to Hope
Please visit the Amish Descendent Scholarship for a story of “An Irrepressible Spirit.” This is the story of Emma Gingerich’s educational journey. She left her Amish community when she was eighteen. Before she left, she did not know what a college is, yet she was enrolled in one less than a year after she entering…
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