THANKS MOM

In the fall of 1984, Dad accepted a study with Jehovah’s Witnesses to disprove their understanding of the Bible and unite his family.

On Wednesday, September 19, 1984 (I know because I looked it up on imdb.com), I ran home from school to watch the epic conclusion to the 3-part pilot episodes of the Transformers “More Than Meets the Eye” to find that Mom had thrown away the TV. Noooooooo! The cliffhanger that would haunt the rest of my childhood.

That is when I knew Mom and Jehovah were mightier than Dad and Optimus Prime. This marked a series of “transformations” in the family while Dad continued to study the Bible study. About a year later, Dad was baptized at the Puyallup Assembly Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Dad found the fulfillment of Bible prophecy as the most convincing evidence that Jehovah God is someone with whom he could have a personal relationship. While he did that, he simultaneously became closer to Mom. I remember the kindness of the congregation and the personal interest the brothers and sisters showed that provided the family and friends that were missing in our life.

What was there for an only child to do in the evenings without a TV? Read! Mom loved to read, and she would read aloud to my Dad and me. She read life experiences from the Watchtower, the complete saga of Anne of Green Gables, Wind in the Willows, and the Complete Works of Sherlock Homes, among others. I remember sitting on the living room floor in front of the fireplace playing with my Legos while she read and read.

Years later, as an adult, I would watch the epic conclusion of the Transformers TV pilot, and it lacked something. I realized that while my Mom read aloud and I played by the fireplace on the living room floor, the adventures in my head were much better. Thanks, Mom.