Old Friendships

 

General José de San Martín

I was pleasantly surprised recently to see a photo of this mural painted by Amalia Rossetti forty years ago. The Rossettis were dear friends from our time in La Carlota. Amalia, the youngest, was a toddler when our family left there.

Reconnecting with old friends and making new ones has been one of the joys of sharing my life stories in blog format. I research to remember and make sense of long ago happenings, locate old friends, learn more about them and uncover interesting stories. 

Amalia was married and had a nine-year-old daughter when she became an art student at the Lino Enea Spilimbergo School of Applied Arts, a branch of Córdoba's State University. At the time, she lived with her husband and daughter in Tancacha, and traveled 10 miles away to attend classes in Río Tercero. Not long after beginning this new adventure in life, she discovered she was pregnant again. It was then that an opportunity arose that she could not pass up. Her daughter's school wanted a mural of the national hero. It had been a dream of hers to recreate the mural she had so admired in the school where she grew up. 

So the town provided the materials, and Amalia even mixed some of her own paints with oxides and pigments to save money. Then, already six months pregnant, she painstakingly labored over this commemorative mural of the Liberator of Argentina, Chile and Peru. Amazingly, she had to complete the masterpiece in four days! The university would not allow her to miss any more classes. She was able to finish the work just in time for the August 17 holiday, the anniversary of General San Martín's death! 

Amalia graduated after four years with a Masters in Visual Arts and taught in an elementary school for eighteen years. She recalls the mural-painting experience as one of the highlights of her art journey.

The town of Tancacha still remembers her contribution gratefully.

We stayed in touch with several generations of the family. Their faith journey with us in La Carlota, actually started before that in another town.

My father wrote the story of that first encounter for The Brethren Missionary Herald (2.07.1948).

About eight months ago at 10 o'clock in the morning two unknown ladies came to our door. One was a tall, thin elderly lady and the other, smaller and about 35 years old. After a few moments' conversation we learned that they were mother and daughter. . . The mother had been saved in Huinca not so long before, and had made a special trip to witness to her daughter in La Carlota. Not feeling too capable to explain the Gospel just yet, she brought her daughter to our home. There, for some minutes, we listened to the daughter make her defense (for she did most of the talking). After she seemed satisfied with her presentation of worthiness, we said a few words explaining the Gospel and invited her to our meetings.

Only one month later, the 35-year-old daughter and her whole family of four children obeyed the voice of Christ pleading. "Come unto me . . . and I will give you rest."

In her own words Rosa Rossetti, the daughter, tells her story:

    Before being saved, I used to think that God wasn't just, when some difficulty, offense, or heartache came into my life. Full of doubt with respect to God, I said: "What have I done to merit this punishment? Where is God?" I though of God only to make Him responsible for my misfortunes, not realizing that I was the guilty one.

I tried to be a good wife and a better mother, and in part I fulfilled my desires. But I was not happy. If I thought of death, an indescribable terror laid hold of me. At times I thought of God, and saw myself as guilty, and then I asked myself, "Where will I go when the hour of death arrives for me" Can God forgive my sins?" I tried in every way to justify myself, and convince myself  that they would be forgiven, but my heart always condemned me.    

One day my mother paid me a visit. She brought a letter from her pastor, for the pastor of La Carlota. With much fear she invited me to accompany her to the pastor's house to deliver the letter. I accepted joyfully, and we went. Mrs. Hoyt answered our knock at the door. We asked if she were the pastor's wife, and she said she was. My mother gave her the letter and she invited us in.

When she called her husband, who was in his study, I remember how he came hurriedly downstairs and kindly invited us to sit down. He asked  us many questions, and upon learning that I lived in this town, asked if they couldn't visit us. I gave consent outwardly, but inside I thought it would be better if they were not to come because I was ashamed of my old ugly house, which was always topsy-turvy because of the children. But on the other hand, I was happy to say "yes," because they were a kind couple.

A few days later—I remember it was a Sunday afternoon, as I was ironing—they arrived. I was unpresentable as well as my house, but I invited them in. In the course of the conversation Mr. Hoyt invited me to the meetings. I offered several excuses at first, but ended up by promising that I would go. A few days later I went, and have been going ever since.

One Sunday night, after the message I made a public confession of faith in Christ. Since then I realize that God is not unjust, but I, who spoke lightly of Him whom I knew not. Now I ask myself, "What did I do that God should choose to save me from among the thousands of lost ones?" My life has made a complete change. I am happy, I'm not ashamed of my house, just thankful to have it and offer it to Christ, as one day I gave Him my life.

Early family photo in La Carlota

Dad's article continued,

Rosita immediately had a desire to know all about the Word of God and to see others saved. Nor shall I forget the times she has spoken a word to the one beside her as the invitation was given. This desire for the salvation of souls is especially keen in relation to her relatives.

She wrote to her sister-in-law and received the following answer.

San Justo, Argentina
August 13, 1947

Dear Sister-in-Law and the Rest of the Family:

It is our desire that upon receiving this letter you will all be enjoying good health. We are all well, thanks to God . . . 

Well, Rosita, I received the package with the Bible and I thank you very much. Now I am going to tell you the truth. Our opinions are very different in respect to religion. See here, Rosita, we were brought up practicing the same religion—that which exists in our whole family, and for us there is no other religion than that which our fathers taught us to love and to respect since we were small. For us there is only one God and one church and that is the Catholic.

You were telling me that all they say in the Catholic church is a lie. It may be, but we could say the same about the Evangelical Church couldn't we? I do not want to argue about anything in the Evangelical Church. It may be very good, but for me there is only one religion, Rosita, and it is the Catholic. With that religion I was brought up. I have defended it, and I expect to follow it all my life For me there is no other religion, nor do I want my children to have another. I do not know what you will think but neither I nor Felix are willing to change religions. We are baptized. We have taken communion. We have married and we have our little daughter baptized and confirmed in the Catholic Church. Why should we change our religion now to be Evangelicals, which is a religion contrary to what we have practiced all our life.

No, Rosita, I am sorry that I must tell you we do not share your opinion. My husband says it is difficult for him to believe that you, above all others of the family, have made this decision.

I spoke to your brother, José, and he does not share your ideas either. He is a Catholic and doesn't care to know anything of the Evangelicals. He does right in defending his religion. Therefore we do the same. Do not take offense at what I have said. Everyone has his own ideas and I believe that is the only true liberty  we have in this life. If we could converse about these things we would have many points to touch, but it is better to put it to one side.

Furthermore, I will tell you that it has always been my great ambition to send Betty to the school of nuns where they practice the true Catholic religion. If God will, next year I shall be able to do it. 

With nothing more to say, and hoping that I have not offended you, I send you best wishes and kisses.

Anita 

Rosita responded immediately, assuring Anita that she was not angry or offended, only sorrowful and sad about their unwillingness to read the Bible and learn the truth.

I do not want to insist. I shall only add that if it is the purpose of God to save you by means of the Gospel, although you resist, He will save you. . .

Furthermore, I am not the only one who has understood that the religion of their fathers was not the best. Don't be so surprised, Felix, because father and mother were the first to understand. Odilia has also been convinced of the truth of the Gospel. . . 

The thirty-first of this month each of us who is studying in the Bible Institute here in Carlota will have a little part in the evening program. There will be three talks—one treating our state in sin, another, life eternal, and the last, the means of obtaining this eternal life or salvation by grace. The last topic is wonderful and will be my part. I am very happy. Perhaps I shall send you what I am going to say . . . 

Fifteen-year-old Odel added a note at the end urging his aunt and uncle to attend.

I also am baptized and confirmed in the Catholic Church, but I went to the Evangelical meetings just the same. You can do as I and you're not going to lose anything. To the contrary, you are going to gain. It will make you think very much.

Tragically, Felix died not long after in an explosion at work and his thirteen-year-old daughter also. She had just stopped by to bring him some refreshment, a mate (an Argentine beverage, like green tea). Such a deep, heavy loss for Anita who was left with a one-year-old daughter. She was a good woman. Only God, who sees the hearts, knows how she responded to the peace and comfort He offered her.

Rosita, or doña Rosa, was baptized in 1948 during the annual conference in Río Cuarto.

On the back of the photo:

Memory of the conference in Río Cuarto and of the day we passed through the waters of baptism, thus identifying with our Lord Jesus Christ.

February 10, 1948

When Amalia was only four, the family moved to Buenos Aires to join her grandparents. Once again our families were relatively close. She writes about visits to our home in Don Bosco. I referred to one of those times in the chapter titled 1954.

I have such happy memoreis of your family when you were in Don Bosco. Mom and I would go to your house because my mother used to sew and mend for your mother and I played with Lynn and Aldo, Pick-up-sticks I loved and many others I can't remember. And your mother made that delicious salad (seems I can still taste it) with lettuce, banana, sour cubed apples and that dressing, not make of mayonnaise but sweetened condensed milk, vinager and oil, so delicious! 

My brother Lynn in his hand-written memories, made mention of these friends. 

 Old Friendships

Because so many of our original friends in Buenos Aires had roots in the interior, we retained close ties with the interior people, so we had opportunities to visit in some of their homes.

One of those families who were especially dear to us as a family were the Anselmino/Rossetti/Tognoli family. The old folks, the Anselminos were the patriarchs of the family.

They all lived on another branch of the train line, which went through other towns and ended up at the same destination, La Plata. Early on Dad started a Bible study in their home. I often went with him, possibly because I was too much of a handful for Mother. We had to take the train to Plaza Constitución then come back on the other line, then take a bus to a destination about two blocks away from their home. I always enjoyed the visits there. 

They had a quaint living arrangement. The old folks lived in a little house in the middle of the lot, the Tognolis in the house at the back of the lot, and the Rossettis in the front of the lot. We had the Bible study at the Anselminos, as both Mr. Rosetti and Mr. Tognoli were not very interested in it. I usually played with the Rossetti's very young daughter, Amalia, who was about my age. Her brothers and sister were much older, in fact her sister had been my baby sitter in La Carlota where we lived the first two years of my life.

The Anselminos kept a vegetable garden which occupied every inch of the lot with the exception of the 18inch walkway which connected the living quarters.

My recollection of the trips over there were that they were long, the equipment was totally worn out, and there were at least three times as many people on the bus as would fit even with the least of comfort. The busses in those days were not only crowded, but, now that I know something about mechanics, I realize they would not even begin to pass a safety inspection; the clutch was worn to where there was almost no friction surface left, and the exhaust system was probably non existent.

My parents were privileged to attend Humberto and Dominga Anselmino's 50th wedding anniversary celebration, March 17, 1960, where several generations were present. 

A beautiful goal in life is to pass on the truth of the Gospel to the next generations. "We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done (Psalm 78:4)."

1956

 

    Many interesting facts and stories surfaced as I researched the year 1956 in the world, in Argentina and in our little corner of Don Bosco, in the province of Buenos Aires.

    Among the highlights of the year in Argentina, the name Juan Manuel Fangio stood out. It was familiar to me, but didn't mean much then. Fangio won the Argentine Grand Prix and the World Championship of Drivers five times, a record he held for 46 years. I better understand the significance of Fangio's win now that I live in Indiana, home of the Indy 500, also known as The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.

    Another surprise was that Rebel Without a Cause(1955) was showing in Argentina. James Dean died in a car accident shortly before his most celebrated film was released. He won two acting awards posthumously and has become a cultural icon of teenage disillusionment. 

    James Dean is a big name in our county because he was born and grew up here. In Fairmount, a nearby town, a large annual festival bears his name. Visitors come from all over the world to honor his memory. They visit the gravesite and the museum, the James Dean Gallery. His image and popularity seem to grow with time. Most recently, two gigantic art representations were installed in Fairmount, his hometown, and in Marion, his birth town. 

    From the long list of historical highlights, I chose a few more that may be of interest to some of us for a variety of reasons.

• January 8 - Operation Auca: Five missionaries killed by the Huaorani of Ecuador.
• January 28 - Elvis Presley's first television appearance.
• March 15 - "My Fair Lady" premieres on Broadway.
• May 1 - Jonas Salk's polio vaccine is made available to the public.
• July 30 - U.S. Congress joint resolution, signed by President Eisenhower, authorizes 'In God we                 trust' as the U.S. national motto.
• September 13 - the first commercial computer to use disk storage is introduced, the IBM 305                     RAMAC.
• October 15 - Fortran, the first modern computer language is shared with the coding community.
• October 17 - The Game of the Century, Bobby Fisher plays Donald Byrne in chess and wins a                     Brilliancy prize.
• November 13 - The U.S. Supreme Court declared Alabama segregated buses law illegal ending                   the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

    The first event on the list, stands out in my memory for the magnitude of its impact. Five young men purposed to reach an uncontacted tribe in the rain forest of Ecuador. For several months, they regularly flew over the area and dropped gifts which were then reciprocated. January 3, 1956, they set up camp on a sandbar along the Curaray River, a few kilometers from the people group they were attempting to evangelize. Their efforts came to an unexpected end when tribal warriors attacked and speared them.

    However, that was not the end of the story in God's book. The widows of these men did not lose hope or question God's direction for their families. Two women went back sometime later and lived among these unreached peoples and they were converted. Here is what one of the killers said, 

    Many books, articles, and films have been produced to represent the resulting impact of this event that shook the world and transformed untold numbers of lives.

    A quote by Jim Elliott, one of the five martyrs has oft been repeated.      

    Meanwhile in our little corner of Argentina, the family routines were similar from year to year. We traveled to summer camps, annual conference, and Dad had other important mission-related meetings in the interior as well. 

    Lynn and I attended the public school from March through November.

Lynn's third grade class

A school patriotic parade

 

My 6th grade class field trip to La Plata, 9.28.56

End of year photo with my teacher, Srta. Dina and the directora

    Mother certainly had her hands full keeping our guardapolvos (school uniforms) crisp white and starched in addition to all the household chores and church ministries. 

    
    This was the year of the Templo. Dad was once again immersed in a building program, and Mother always at his side, even involved in the actual construction at times. 

    Here is the story as Dad remembered it in his farewell address a few years later.    

Primera Etapa del Templo     The Temple - First Phase 

    El cinco de julio de 1956 esta iglesia recibió un regalo de la Sociedad Misionera, el lote para su templo. La única condición era que los creyentes se encargaran de levantar el templo. Con este desafío, los creyentes pronto aprobaron un plano y en el mismo mes de julio con la ayuda de Francisco Sparta y el Sr. Fischer se marcaron los cimientos. Luego fueron cavados por algunos jóvenes, el pastor y su señora.

    July 5, 1956, this congregation received a gift from the Foreign Missionary Society, a piece of land for the temple. The only condition was that the believers take charge of building the church. The believers took on the challenge and approved a blueprint and in that very month of July, with the help of Francisco Sparta and Mr. Fischer, laid out / marked the foundations. Some of the young people and the pastor and his wife dug the foundations. 

    Recordamos el 17 de agosto con gran placer porque unos cuantos amigos y hermanos de Mármol vinieron para ayudarnos a llenar los cimientos. Ancianos y jóvenes, mujeres y niños - todos trabajamos fuertemente y además de llenarse una parte de los cimientos, se pudo cavar para las bases de las tres columnas y armar el hierro correspondiente. Mirando una foto sacada el 17, descrubrimos que el baño quedó hecho antes de ese día también.    

    We remember August 17 with joy because several friends and believers from Mármol came to help us fill the foundations. Old and young, women and children - all worked hard and in addition to filling the trenches, were able to dig holes for the bases of the three columns and put together the corresponding iron frames. Looking at a photo taken that day, we realized that the bathroom had also been completed before that day 

    Con la ayuda de unos jóvenes, especialmente el hermano Angel Díaz, se siguió trabajando hasta levantar las paredes a una altura que nos hizo sentir nuestra necesidad de un albañil y con él seguimos hasta techar. Recordmos con agradecimiento el amplio andamiaje que nos prestó el Sr. Escala cuando llegamos a ese punto en la construcción. 

    With the help of some young folks, especially brother Angel Díaz, we continued working until the walls were at a point where we felt the need to hire a mason / bricklayer and kept him on until the roofing stage. We remember with gratitude the ample scaffolding that Mr. Escala loaned us when we got to that point in the construction/building.

 

   El día del techado tuvimos la colaboración de muchos. Por cierto, éramos pocos para hacer un trabajo tan grande y pesado, pero éramos unos cuanto más de lo acostumbrado.

    On roofing day we had the collaboration of many. We certainly were few for such a huge and heavy job, but we were more than usual. 

 

Brethren Missionary Herald, 11.03.56

    Ya que se aproximaba la Navidad, nos fijamos la meta de inaugurar el templo con el programa de Navidad. Había tanto que hacer que era para deseperarnos, pero diariamente seguimos adelante. Terminamos de cortar el hierro para las ventanas y el Sr. Allessándria las armó. Nos pusimos a colocarlas mientras el Sr. Rocobertón hacía las puertas. Así hicimos una cosa tras otra pero se nos acababa el tiempo. Llegó la víspera del día para el programa y hasta tarde quedamos colocando vidrios. Faltaban las luces y no las pudimos conectar hasta unas horas antes del programa, y para hacerlo tuvimos que pedir la corriente a un vecino. ¡Pero entramos - diciembre 23, 1956! El templo estaba sin revoque, sin piso, sin contra piso, ¡ambiente perfecto para celebrar el nacimiento humilde de nuestro Salvador! 

    Christmas was drawing near, so we set the goal of inaugurating the temple with the Christmas program. There was so much to do that it was overwhelming, however, we kept moving forward daily. We finished cutting the iron for the windows and Mr. Allessándria put them together. We installed them at the same time that Mr. Rocobertón was making the doors. Thus we accomplished one thing after another, but we were running out of time. The day before the program, we worked late putting in the glass. There were no lights and we were unable to connect them until a few hours before the program, and to do so we had to ask a neighbor for electricity. But we were in, December 23, 1956! The temple had no plaster, no flooring or subflooring, a perfect atmosphere to celebrate the humble birth of our Saviour! 

Inauguración del Templo

23 de diciembre de 1956

    I look at the group gathered that day and wonder where life took each one. Several, I know, are in heaven. Some of us have lived full lives, grateful for God's direction and faithfulness. 

    My parents laid down their lives in tireless labor and believed that God would give the harvest. 

    I am reminded of Jesus words, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit (John 12:24)." 

Interview with Mirtha

 

Before publishng the previous chapter, the story of my dear friend Mirtha, I sent it to her for her approval and corrections. When she read it, she needed to clarify a few details, but more than that, she wanted to stress and explain why the events of that day during their stay with us in Buenos Aires were so significant.

I decided to ask her a series of questions to better comprehend her medical journey from the beginning. 

"How old were you when you contracted polio?" I began.

"I was a baby. I was eight months. My parents were moved from Cabrera, where they pastored a Brethren church, to the city of Laboulaye to build up the church there. I was six or seven months at the time, and forty days after our arrival in Laboulaye, I contracted polio."

"What were the first symptoms?"

"My sister Sara told me that the first thing my mother noticed was that I only moved my eyes and the first phalanx, the tips of my fingers. But Mom had told me that when she tried to pick me up to feed me, it seemed like I had no bones, no spine. I was limp like a rag. She picked me up and I would fold over every which way. It was such a huge blow for her to see this. She immediately sent my sisters, Eunice and Sara, to get the doctor who lived across the street, Dr. Boris Joffe, a Jew. He came with another doctor who lived on the corner of that same street."

"I cannot imagine the anguish your parents must have felt."

"Daddy was not there because he had begun to cover the territory of his parish. The Laboulaye church had started working in two other towns, General Levalle and Jovita. So he was not there when Mother discovered my condition. 
The two doctors came and immediately detected the problem."

"Mrs. Siccardi," they said, "there are four cases of polio in the city. This is the fifth and it is the worst. This little girl is not going to live. The paralysis is only millimeters away from touching her brain."

"How painful for your dad to be met with this news when he returned! And, to think that his wife had to face this alone. Unimaginable!"

"Daddy was such an evangelizer. Sara tells me, and I also have memories, that he systematically visited each member of the church or had them into his office. And whenever he went out, he carried gospel tracts, a very common method of evangelism back then, and as he went about visiting the believers, he always gave out tracts and shared the Lord with anyone he came across.
He visited the two towns, Levalle and Jovita, regularly every couple weeks, evangelizing the town. And as he gained people for the Lord, he began to gather them. In both towns he had rented a small hall and there he also made his meals and coffee with a small kerosene burner he took with him.

Dr. Joffe told my parents, 'Of course, you are pastors, and the baby, well . . . someone in the church must have kissed her on the mouth and thus spread the polio virus.'

My mother did not like me to be passed around, but since they were new to the church she didn't feel she could be too hard on them, and after all I was the baby of the church. Everyone loved to hold me."

"The photos you sent me, show that something truly unexplainable must have taken place despite Dr. Joffe's dire diagnostic."

18 months, in the walker

In Tito's little car

Three years old
Practicing walking on the sidewalk.
Having some difficulty with the left leg.

The family in Laboulaye

Mirtha, Mom, Tito

"Did Dr. Joffe continue treating you and watching your progress while you lived in Laboulaye?"

"Yes, and throughout his whole life he followed my case. His whole family helped. I still have a rag doll that his daughter Babi, Eunice's friend, brought me one time when I was in his office. He was applying a polio treatment they were using in Buenos Aires, called diathermy, consisting of wrapping me in little warm blankets and applying heat. He taught my parents some little exercises as well.
You know, I still have a visual memory, visual and even physical. I remember lying on the cot, wrapped up, warm and comfortable, the doctor by my side, Babi and her mother coming in, carressing me, bringing me the doll . . . well, the entire family was involved.
When they returned to Israel in '48, he stayed in touch. His last letter, when he was nearing the end, was signed, 'Your friend and possibly brother.'"

Dr. Boris Joffe and family

"At some point in time, your family moved to Almafuerte to take charge of the church there, right?"

"That's right. Almafuerte seemed, in many ways, like a paradise to us. But at the same time, that is where my scoliosis worsened seriously. The curvature of my spine was first noticed when I was six or seven years old. However, during puberty it accelerated alarmingly.
When we arrived in Almafuerte, I was nine, not yet ten. So, they sent me to the school that was practically next door to the mission. And, well, that was a whole period of tears and smiles. That was the time of many trips to the city of Córdoba. Then came the Bible Institute and the joy the students brought.
The first specialists to take on my case, when I was eleven or twelve years old, were a team from the Children's Hospital in Córdoba. It was a time of unending consultations with specialists.

Then, Eunice, my older sister, arranged for us to meet with Dr. Van Domsoler, a specialist in the British Hospital where she worked. That is when we were hosted by the lovely Hoyt family in Don Bosco, in the outskirts of Buenos Aires."

"Now, going back to that visit, tell us why that day stands out in your memory." 

"The day we went to hear the final conclusion of the doctors in the British Hospital, it was a very hard time. My mother and father felt the gravity of the situation. I was probably not as conscious of its seriousness.

The head doctor in charge of my case was Dr. Van Domsoler. He said, 'I must be very honest with you. There is no hope. There is no way, no treatment, no surgery, nothing that can stop the scoliosis. The curvature of the spine cannot be corrected, and will no doubt advance.' He said this with great kindness.
In the many, many consultations I had been through until then in Córdoba, I had never felt scared. Now, for the first time ever, I began to cry. I couldn't help the tears falling. Then he hugged me. I can remember with what tenderness he drew me in close to his heart. 'Don't cry, little one,' he said. 'Whoever looks at your face will not even notice your back.' That did not prove true [laughing], however it was comforting then."

"What happened next?"

"When we left the hospital, the revolution that ousted Perón had begun. Your parents were very worried because we were downtown and unaware of what was going on.
My father and mother had taken me to the botanical garden to get my mind off things. They bought some sandwiches to eat there. But we were seeing strange things. The sky would get very dark, and we heard strange noises. Then the caretaker came and said, 'Please, you must leave.' He told them what was happening. 
I really don't know how we got back at that time, probably by train. And when we arrived back to your house, your dad had been watching from the rooftop and praying that we'd make it back alive.
What happened next was so special. That very day the organ or harmonium had arrived! So after dinner . . .  (Your mom, as always, had prepared a wonderful meal. She made waffles, so delicious! I've never had waffles again. We didn't have waffle irons in Argentina. I think they are available now, but I haven't seen any around here.) Anyway, we all gathered around the organ, the whole family, my mom and dad, your parents, your little brothers . . . 'You play first! You play first!' you insisted.
So I sat down, and without giving it much thought I played the hymn that stood out to me,

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;

There is no shadow of turning with Thee . . .

[Here she began to sing.]        Great is Thy faithfulness!

                                                Great is Thy faithfulness!

Do you remember? My mother felt it in her heart like a bomb. From then on it was her favorite hymn.  You know, that moment there in your house had such an impact. To the end of her life, Mother believed that my spinal column would not get worse and would even straighten.
I know your parents were of great comfort to my dad and mother. I went with you to your room, and we talked and laughed and had fun. Yes, of course, I was still emotional, in shock, but your company did me so much good. It was so wonderful to be with you. I just wanted to tell you that because it was so important to me. That very hard moment in the British Hospital and then the very sweet moment in your home."

"What happened next in your medical journey?"

"We went back to the doctors in Córdoba, but no longer to the Children's Hospital. Dr. Celina Carbonell, a believer, took me under her care.

Mrs. Loree Sickel [widowed missionary with more than three decades of service in Argentina] had opened a missionary fund to cover the expenses for the best treatments and care available. I was interned for quite a long time in a German clinic under the supervision of Dr. Pablo Busse Grawitz, also a believer.

It was a lovely clinic, and I was very well cared for and underwent any number of tests and treatments. My mother was there with me as I was bedridden. 
My stay there also served as an inspiration later when I wrote the novel. I could go out on the balcony of the German chalet. From there I watched Peter, one of the doctor's sons, so friendly, and he became one of the characters. The youngest son with the angry look became the protagonist.

From there I ended up in the very famous Clínica Romagosa. All this thanks to the abundant, marvellous, generous offering that sustained us, Mrs. Sickel always making sure we never lacked anything medical expertise could offer.

These clinics did the best they could with what they had to offer at that time. Dr. Carbonell even traveled to the US to present my case at a medical congress. There was a new surgery, but was extremely risky at the time. She said to my mother, 'Herminia, if Mirtha were my daughter, I would not allow her to have the surgery, there are no guarantees.'

That is when the team of doctors, there were 32 in the end, decided that I had to be horizontal, because my spine continued to fold. It was collapsing one of my lungs, crushing it; and my heart was in a horizontal position. I have a laid down heart not standing vertical like most. So the only way was to be in bed all day. I could get up 20 minutes a day to do certain corrective exercises. My dad and mom helped me, and my sisters  when they were home.

My place in the world for five years

I was bedridden from 14 to 19 years of age. Oh, and at night I hung from a contraption that held me by my jaw and nape, back of the neck. The head of the bed was raised with bricks under the head posts and my body weight kept me stretched out all night. The device could swivel so I was able to change positions at will and sleep on my stomach or back or on my side, but always hanging. All those years left a callous on my jaw. I was so thin and pale, my sister called me little greenhouse flower.
For my fifteenth birthday, they took me to a professional photographer for this photo. (It appears they combed my hair, too.)"

"How were you able to overcome such extreme limitations? Perhaps the paragraph on the back cover of your book answers this briefly: From my position I study, read, and write. I am finishing the fourth year of high school. Brillando para El is the first complete book I've written. I started it when I was fifteen and finished it at age sixteen. I thank God that I can keep on writing for Him even from bed."

First edition

Second edition

"What happened after those five years?"

"Throughout that time, there were regular check ups, tests, xrays, every month or two months. Eunice or someone would take them to the doctor for the medical team to examine. Then, after five years, when Eunice took the xray, the doctors called her in. 'What happened here?' they asked. 'What do you mean?' she said. 'The specter is gone!' they said. 'Your little sister was expected to die before age twenty or be paralyzed in a short time. The curvature is detained and her spine has even stretched some, and the spinal cord is not compressed.'
It was only then that they told us and we learned the extent of the danger: my spinal cord could've broken at any moment, my heart stop functioning or I could suffocate for lack of air. I was never short of breath, even though I only have less than a half of one lung that works. I never noticed it, except that I tire more often than others who do not have that problem."

"Were you then able to live a normal life?"

"Briefly, and as an example of my active life, when I was in Buenos Aires years later and took on the responsibility for the Christian children's magazine, El Puentecito, I was also teaching at a community college, I drove Eunice's car all around the city coming and going from my jobs. I think Eunice and my mother worried about me overdoing it.
Finally, throughout my lifetime I received five sentences of certain death or total paralysis. None of that has happened so far. As far as I know I am alive. I am well. Although currently, I've been going through a more difficult period due to total exhaustion after being a caregiver for Eunice and my beloved husband in their last years of life. It is very difficult to overcome and has even affected my mobility. If the Lord wills, I am not leaving just yet. I do believe I still have more to accomplish."

"Thank you, Mirtha, for sharing the story of your miraculous life, eighty years this June 17!"

"Yes, that is the story, a constant miracle. 
Miracles are not always noisy and sudden. God works as He wills. In my case, there was no instant miracle. Rather, it has been a daily miracle throughout these many long years. It is a miracle I live day by day that becomes so normal and natural that I often forget that my life is a miracle. However, we all live by miracles, as the Lord gives each of us the quota of health that we need."

Mirtha

 

Among the visitors that stayed with us in Don Bosco, was the Siccardi family. Mirtha, their youngest daughter became my dearest friend. I believe this is the first photo of us together. She is on my left.

  

Mirtha and I  must have met when we were very small because our fathers were pastors in the same fellowship, but we did not see one another very often as our families lived in different provinces and only got together at summer camp and/or annual general conference.

This one time, however, Mirtha and her family came to Buenos Aires for medical reasons. 

Mirtha contracted polio as a baby.  As she grew into adolescence, her spinal column began to deteriorate and deviate rapidly endangering vital organs--lungs, heart and spinal cord. The reason for their visit to the capital was for a consultation with specialists at the British Hospital where her eldest sister Eunice was a nurse in training.

I cannot pinpoint the exact dates of their stay, however Mirtha remembers that it was at the start of the "Revolution", perhaps September of 1955. 

I found a prayer request in the denominational magazine about the time when she was hospitalized.
 

(Brethren Missionary Herald, 18.08.56)

The final decision of the medical team was that Mirtha had to spend five years of bed rest during that critical growth period. Her wise father discerned Mirtha's gift of writing and encouraged her to participate in a contest sponsored by L.E.A.L. (Literatura Evangélica para América latina). Her novel won third place! Moody Publishers won over several that would have published it. It was a bestseller.

Our correspondence began as early as 1954 when we were barely 9 and 11 years old. Mirtha carefully preserved all my correspondence in a large binder. I asked to borrow the collection. My brother and sister-in-law were serving in Argentina at the time and were able to bring it to the US and as promised I would send the letters back with them when they returned after their few months stateside. Then our housefire happened!

Amazingly, God protected those letters, they suffered minimal damage--some burnt edges and water marks, but still mostly readable. I was able to scan most of the letters before sending the binder back to Mirtha. Thus, it will remain another treasured resource to draw on as I write my life stories.

But now, allow me to go back and add to Mirtha's story. I found an article published in April of 1944 telling of little Mirtha's very serious case of infantile paralysis and God's intervention in answer to prayer. 

Mirtha is almost two years older than I. Our correspondence began when we were children. 

March 3, 1954

At camp that year there were three of us little girls that hung out together. We adopted the following nicknames: Ester was ovejita, I was pollito (little chicken), and Mirtha was conejito (little bunny). My next letter, July 28, was appropriately illustrated.

The last letter in the thick binder is dated May 1972. By then, I was married and living in Germany. In the intervening years, Mirtha became a literature professor and for twenty years was totally in charge of  a Christian magazine for children, El Puentecito. Sharing the gospel with the young generation has been her life-long passion.

This is an early sample, published shortly before Mirtha married Aldo Ferro.

In January of 1997, I was privileged to travel to Argentina and spend a few days in their home.

Last year, Mirtha lost her husband of more than thirty years. The following is my favorite photo of this dear couple.

Amazingly, God has kept her all these years to spread love and care to others. 

June 17th is Mirtha's 80th birthday. In her honor, here is a prayer of blessing.

The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you
and give you peace.

Numbers 6:24-26 - NIV