Mary Sheppard Burton

"Kountry Korner Kappers"

Through many, many years wonderful Mennonite, Amish, and Quaker families befriended my husband, Charles, and me, and taught each of us firsthand how to serve others and how to make a better world for us all. Our friends are masters of these philosophies, and we love them for their generous gifts of self to us. We love them also for the respect and selflessness with which they treated each of our mothers, who spent their last years in the gentle caring surroundings of a Mennonite nursing home. Our parents loved the beauty of harmony in the old hymns sung so often with love—and with a robust zest for the life they lived. Our mothers loved the cheerfulness, and the wonderful, wholesome, homegrown and homemade food as well. The whole community that cared for them did so from the depths of their hearts. We were frequently invited to dinner, a picnic, or a sing. They loved us simply, for ourselves, and made an occasion of every visit. This was a difficult and yet a wonderful time for me, and is a deep part of what I am and who I am. I have learned much from the love of my plain-folk friends. I want to remember them, and by way of this rug, honor them as well.

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