MOM’S MEMOIRS – IRENE LOUISE (NEE KUCKKAN) MUELLER
(Continued)
 
Mom’s Autobiography – Chapter 23 – In Book, Page 54

Furlough In The United States – 1972, California, Here We Come, Oregon And Washington, Yellowstone National Park, More Of Our Trip Back To Wisconsin, Wisconsin

FURLOUGH IN THE UNITED STATES – 1972
 
After we returned to the United States we stayed in a beautiful furlough house provided by the Lutheran Women’s Missionary Society (LWMS) of the Wisconsin Synod. Yes, there now was a place where missionaries, their wives, and children could live while they were on furlough. What a blessing! Not only was there a place, but there were towels, bedding, and other necessities provided. There was even food in the pantry! It was a very comfortable place. Our children were elated that they could sleep up in the attic of the big house. We shared the same space with Missionary Harold Johne, his wife, and children, but it so happened that they were on a lecture tour then, even though some of their things were still in the furlough house.

Shortly after we returned to the States, our daughter, Debbie, graduated from Dr. Martin Luther Prep (now Martin Luther Prep) in New Ulm, Minnesota, so we left some of our things in the furlough house too, went to Jefferson, Wisconsin, to pick up Dick’s Mom, and off we went to New Ulm. Glen, Debbie’s boyfriend, also graduated. Glen’s parents, Kenneth and Elaine Wilson, were also there, all the way from Petaluma, California. As I remember, it was a very hot day. All of us ate lunch in the DMLC dining hall, and then received some very stunning news. Debbie and Glen wanted to get married, and in Petaluma, California!

So we went back to the furlough house in Milwaukee and packed up again for California. We could not afford to stay in motels or hotels, so bought a tent camper.  Our family was used to camping in Africa, and loved it. Dick gave each of our children a job in putting up the tent camper and taking it down, so it went fast. Then we would all go swimming at the camp pool, eat, swim again, go to bed, and then were on our way the next morning. What a blessing it was for all of us to see the wonders of America!

CALIFORNIA, HERE WE COME!

How excited we all were when we crossed the Golden Gate Bridge! It was foggy, but there it was! WOW! We were welcomed at the Wilson home. Glen has two brothers, Dale, and Roger. He also has one sister, Julie. We were all excited about Debbie and Glen’s wedding, although sad, because we knew that now our Debbie would be further away from us when we went back to Africa. But she now had Glen to take care of her, and we also knew both of them had his parents, and most importantly, were in the hands of God. They were joined in holy matrimony on July 1, 1972, by Pastor Armin Keibel in the Church of the Living Word in Novato, California, which is a congregation of the Wisconsin Synod. Dick’s mother gave up her room at the hotel to Debbie and Glen while she slept with us in their trailer home that night. They never forgot that she did that for them.
 
OREGON AND WASHINGTON!
 
Then it was time for us to be “on the road again”. Now we were headed to Medford, Oregon, where my sister, Doloris (“Lottie”), her husband, Dave Adkins, and daughter, Janet Kaye, lived. After visiting them we headed to Renton, Washington, where Helen, Dick’s sister, her husband, Carl, and their four children, Mark, Christine, Carla, and John lived. Again, we saw so many of God’s awesome creations. We saw the giant Redwoods and Crater Lake – beautiful! Oh, but it was so hot! When we got to my sister, Doloris (Lottie), and Dave’s house, our children headed to a pond in a pasture where Lottie and Dave kept one cow. They just had to cool off. Needless to say, they had to be hosed off when they got up to the house. Lottie was also hosing off their dogs, collies, which had gotten too close to a skunk. She also used tomato juice to get rid of the smell. They had a delicious barbecue, and then we were “on the road again”, bound for Renton, Washington.

What a blessing it was to see everyone in Renton, Washington, too. We had a wonderful visit. Helen, Carl, and family took us up to Mount Rainier. Steve was only five years old. He had shoes on, but when he walked on snow which he had not seen before, he took his shoes off because they got wet and cried because the snow was so cold on his bare feet! But what a ball the children had in the snow. After eating a delicious lunch of potato salad and chicken prepared by Mom Mueller, we headed back to Renton. We had such a great visit with Helen, Carl, and their family, but then it was time to head back to Wisconsin.
 
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK
 
WOW! Old Faithful Geyser is really something! It spouts a silvery cascade of steaming water high into the air – a beautiful and inspiring sight. The hot springs were also something to marvel at – hot water boiling out of the ground, hot enough to cook lunch! We could actually walk among them on designated walks. As we were riding in the car, we saw many kinds of wildlife – deer, bears walking up to cars, etc.
 
MORE OF OUR TRIP BACK TO WISCONSIN
 
We stopped to see Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota. On this granite cliff Gutson Borglum carved the heads of Washington, Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Lincoln. Work began in 1927 and lasted about 15 years. The head of Washington is as high as a 5-story building. What an awesome sight! We saw prairie dogs peeking out of their holes. We have a picture of our Stephanie looking at one of the holes waiting for one to come up. We saw the start of the huge sculpture of Chief Crazy Horse on a mountain. We stopped to see the Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota. We also saw acres and acres of the Badlands and other wonderful sights.
 
WISCONSIN
 
We went back to the furlough house in Milwaukee, and Dick started lecturing for our missions in Zambia and Malawi, as he had done during all of our other furloughs in the States. We fully intended to go back to Africa to do our Lord’s work of spreading the Gospel.

My parents, “Ma” (Frances) and “Pa” (Henry) Kuckkan lived at 1419 North Prospect Street, Watertown, Wisconsin. My mother had ridden horses all of her life, having been brought up on her parent’s farm north of Watertown. Her brother, Ewald Koplin, and his wife, Ethel, lived there now, and Ma kept five horses, among them two Palaminoes. She was well known in Watertown, being the leader on her horse, Beauty, of a 4-H group of children riding with her on their horses in the Watertown parade (our children had ridden with her on her horses at the farm during our furloughs, and now two of our daughters, Sue, and Stephanie have their own horses). All of the children in the 4-H group and my mother, wore beautiful costumes which were made by her. Sadly, we did not get to see “Ma” and my sister “Jannie” riding in the parades because we were doing the Lord’s work in Africa.

One day “Ma” was relaxing by riding her horse in a field when the horse was spooked by something. Ma tried to get off the horse because she thought the horse would fall backwards on her, but the tibia and fibula of her right leg broke. She managed to get off the horse and hold the bones together. She called and called, but noone heard her until a neighbor girl way down at the next farm said, “Is that Fran?” They went to the field, found her, and took her to the doctor. He put a huge cast on her leg which extended from her hip all the way down her leg to her foot.

What to do? We packed our suitcases once again and moved out of the furlough house. Ma had asked us to come and live with her and Pa so that we could be of help to them. There was a hospital bed in their living room for her. So we took care of her and went on with our lives; Dick preaching and lecturing for our missions in Africa, Susie and Stephanie attending St. Mark’s Lutheran School (where I attended), Dick and Tim attending Northwestern College and Prep, and me taking care of Ma, cooking, baking, doing the laundry, ironing, etc. I still had Stevie to keep me company. We lived in the basement of Ma and Pa’s house which Ma and Pa had built into an apartment for us when we had needed a place to live on one of our furloughs.