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A Different Perspective
Have you ever thought you were doing something for one reason, only to find that a far more significant reason emerged than you could have anticipated? That happened to me last week when David and I took our trip to the Midwest. I thought I was making the trip to see several Amish communities I…
Read MoreTrip to Amish Country
David and I visited four different Amish communities last week. Here are several pictures of some of the landscapes we saw — beautiful! Belleville, Pennsylvania We started out our trip on Sunday, May 30 and drove to the “Big Valley” in Pennsylvania. This is the second oldest Amish community, after Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I had often…
Read MoreAmish and Health Care
Yanina asked: “What are the Amish beliefs in modern medicine? For example, Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe in blood transfusions. Do the Amish have similar beliefs? How about mental illness or an illness like ADHD?” These are great questions. The Amish religion does not take a position against modern medicine. They allow blood transfusions, open…
Read MoreAmish Adolescence
Anonymous asked: “What were your Amish teen years like?” In a word — tumultuous. Do teenagers go through adolescence, even though they don’t know what it is? When I was in my teen years, I had no idea that it was “normal” to have such a difficult time getting along with my mother. I kept…
Read MoreAmish dresses
Anonymous asked: Are Amish dresses uncomfortable? Simply put — yes. At least the women’s dresses are. They got more so when polyester fabrics became available. The Amish women couldn’t resist the no-iron option, so polyester was in vogue when I was in my late teens. In the summertime, it was like being pinned into a…
Read MoreJoining the Amish
Anonymous asked: Who do you think would have a harder time joining an Amish community an “English” woman or man? First of all, it is not easy for an “English” person to join the Amish, whether you are a woman or a man. There are so many barriers. The language alone is a huge one,…
Read MoreAmish Children
Anonymous asked: What makes Amish children act so well-behaved? I can answer this question from the point of view of having been an Amish child, from the point of view of having been a schoolteacher, and from the point of view of looking at the culture as a whole. First of all, like any other…
Read MoreTopics of Discussion among Amish Women
Anonymous asked: What do Amish women talk about? In our culture we usually discuss “modern” or “worldly” things so what would some general topics of conversation be in Amish culture? This is actually a very good question because the answer reveals how the Amish are not so different from “English” people in many ways, yet…
Read MoreSpring Fever
It’s spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you’ve got it, you want – oh, you don’t quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so! ~Mark Twain I love this quote; it is so true — about what…
Read MoreGeauga County and Happy Spring
Courtney asked: What town in Ohio did you grow up in? I Used to live in Hardin county so I was just wondering if it was there. Hardin County is south of my home community, which was in Geauga County. You were near the Holmes County community, which is the largest Amish community of all.…
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