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The Yield: Good questions, good people at ‘Yield’ book signings
<i>Originally published in the August 7, 2009, print edition.</i>
Do any men order your book? What about e-mails and letters? She continued the query regarding men’s interest in the book I wrote, “The Yield.”
“I was pleased,” I said. When, among the first people at my first signing were a couple. We related instantly. We nodded, as we shared the pain and sadness of losing a spouse.
The conversation turned from the spouses’ illnesses, of their deaths, to a new life with our new help-mates. There was joy for all of us. I could tell Dennis and Dera Lindell loved each other and their families. It was reflected in the brightness of their eyes.
After I signed his book, Dennis turned to the waiting line, lifted up my book and gave quiet praise to the scriptures within — Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it. Ephesians 5:25.
“The Word is in this book” he said.
Merlon Lagerstedt from Gibbon was at the New Ulm signing. I liked him right away. In his kind and gentleman’s manner, he explained he had driven over and was glad to meet me. He had been married to Jennie Maxwell from Amboy.
“We liked to travel,” Merlon said. “We visited our grandchildren and other relatives. We liked to shop in New Ulm. ... Jennie has been gone for some time now.”
The now-widowed farmer took care of her for six years. He learned how to cook, wash clothes. Mowing lawn kept him busy. He had no livestock. In April he will be 92 years old. He is Swedish and learned to speak English in country school. When his dad spoke Swedish, Merlon spoke back to him in English.
They attended Augustana Lutheran Church, “right there in Gibbon.” He kept the minutes for 12 years when he was on the church council. Members of the council called him ML.
On their 160-acre farm, they raised hogs, oats, corn, had a big garden and milked Holstein cows. “I liked to put up wood. It was fun to saw,” he said. “At night we read the paper. I was president of Farm Bureau. Once a month we visited people’s houses and I saw a TV for the first time. We always had a good lunch.”
Merlon enjoys the simple things in life and he seems so quietly content.
I’ve enjoyed each and every person I have met, and look forward to the next signings. See you there!
(Oh, and yes, men order and read “The Yield.”)
Upcoming book signings
Aug. 8 — Winnebago Moto Fest, Garden Court Apartments, 333 2nd Ave. S. W, Winnebago; 9-10:45 a.m.
Presbyterian Church Basement, 127 Main St. N., Winnebago; 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Sept. 12 — Amboy Arts ’n More Festival, Frame It Gallery, Maine Street (look for the Curved Dash Oldsmobile); 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
Sept. 13 — Farming of Yesteryear, rural Kiester; 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
Sept. 19 — Steam Threshing Iowa, Forest City, Iowa (look for the Curved Dash Oldsmobile by the log cabin); 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
“The Yield” can be purchased at www.bookhousefulfillment.com, Good News Bookstore in Fairmont and The Lighthouse in Mankato. Remember to have your book before you come to the signing; books will not be available for sale at signings.
Sue Peterson has been writing “The Yield” column since 1978 and has been a staple of The Land. She may be reached at sustan2@bevcomm.net or 1010 East 5th St., Blue Earth, MN 56013.
Matthew 6; Psalm 37:5-7
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