For many years I visited Danna as a representative of her Church.  It started out as an assignment, but soon blossomed into a beautiful friendship. After Steven retired he would usually join in on our visit.  He was careful, though and made it clear to me that he didn't want to talk about Church.   He did not think he believed in God. Over the years we talked about family, the weather, Danna's beautiful topiaries, her amazing talents for sewing and crafts, as well as our struggles and challenges.  

One day, as Steven got sicker, he was telling me that he was so bored.  There were so many things he wasn't able to do.  One of his doctors suggested to him that he write a personal history, but he didn't think he could do that.  After that, for many visits I brought my little tape recorder and asked him questions about his life.  We were going to refine it and make it into a book, but we never got that far.   (To Matt and Russ--if you didn't find it in the house I still have it in my computer if you want a copy)

One of my favorite stories he told me was that he used to ride along with Danna to the grocery store and wait in the car while she raced in and zoomed around the store as fast as she could.  As he sat alone in the car he would often start to get more and more anxious, wondering why it was taking so long.  On one of these days, for some reason he couldn't quite remember,  he said The Lord's Prayer--one of the only things he remembered of his limited religious background.   As it turned out, it was quite comforting to him and he would say it often while waiting for Danna to return.  We even said it together a few times.   As he told me the story he was quite surprised to admit that it was remarkably beneficial for him.  I was not surprised.  When he told me the story I was impressed with his humility and especially grateful that the Lord would answer him in his time of need.