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The man who claims to be the boss in his own home will lie about other things as well. ~ Amish Proverb I found this quote on line and it made me chuckle. It sure sounds authentically Amish, so if someone made it up, that person sure knows the Amish (male) mindset well. It also…

Saloma, as I read through your blog and the older posts I am so impressed with the quality of your writing. You could turn this into a book! There are so many things your write about that resonate with me, and I would love to talk with you about this sometime…have you ever considered an…

Upon my return to the Amish community after my initial leaving, I longed for more options for a career than what was available to me. At the time, there were two options — that of teaching school or cleaning houses for a living. While I was in Vermont the first time, I had become a…

I know you’re mostly outside the culture now, but my question is in what ways do you think the Amish world has changed? Are there any traditions that have been lost or are disappearing? Ally, your question has really made me think about how little I know about this issue, given that I’ve been out…

I have been working on a website lately. It is still a work in progress, but I’ve launched it. You can goggle my name (Saloma Furlong), and it should be one of the first things to come up, or else you can visit it directly: https://salomafurlong.com/Welcome.html. I would welcome any suggestions or comments, especially if…

The idea that parents encourage the youth to sample the world with the hope that this inoculates them against the world is very much a myth. ~ Anonymous Amishman In my quest for accurate information about “rum springa” in the Amish culture, I found two things that give me hope that the current view of…

What made you decide to leave the Amish faith? Until one of my readers asked me this question, I didn’t realize that I hadn’t addressed my reasons, except in passing. Though it takes a whole book to really convey the nuances of what went into my decision, I will attempt to give at least a…

Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. ~ Melodie Beattie We had a taste of spring in Western Massachusetts this past week. For me, spring and summer means ironing, considering I like wearing cotton clothing in the warmer weather. Wednesday, as I was ironing my first…

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson This has been a busy week, so I have not had a chance to post. I finally did get my website launched a while ago, and I updated it this week. Here…

Now I will tell the story of how one of my sisters and I did the unthinkable when Mem was in the sugarhouse one spring. However, first I need to set the background. Every church district in every community varies in its adherence to the set of church rules or “Ordnung.” And then each set…