The corn was pushing up shoots to join company with long rows of carrots, beans, and potatoes. She made her way to the storage shed and found a dozen collapsible tomato racks that her husband, Tobe, had fabricated in his metal shop. She unfolded them and pushed the four-cornered wire supports into the soil around the foot-high tomato plants. But I must buy potatoes. There are none left in the cellar. She took a break from hoeing to harvest several handfuls of radishes and onions. Then she cut off two heads of lettuce and put them in her dishpan with the other cuttings.
These would make the salad for Sunday dinner. Not since the Depression years could Emma remember thinking so much about money. It was a constant worry. Three years earlier, in , each of them had received an inheritance—a choice of forty acres of land or the same value in cash. Emma hoped that she and Tobe would be able to pass on an inheritance to their children.
But at the rate things were going now, they would only pass on a debt. Not long after he lost the ownership of Kalona Products Company in May of , he started a new business.
- Duets, Volume II, Op. 150 & 153: For Two Violins: 2 (Kalmus Edition).
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With the financial sponsorship of an Amish neighbor named Harvey Bender, Tobe built a thirty-by-fifty foot block building for a manufacturing shop. Not long afterward, Tobe talked Harvey into letting him build thirty-by-thirty-six-foot living quarters onto the end of the shop. Harvey agreed to put up the money, and Tobe supplied most of the labor. Perhaps even this week, Tobe would finish laying the linoleum in the kitchen. And he had promised he would put up the ceiling and install the inside doors soon.
And she would manage with privacy curtains in the doorways. Sometimes Emma felt a bit guilty about expecting Tobe to get things done on the house when he desperately needed to get his work done in the shop. He built the business at the same time that he was building the house. Between shop management, sales trips, and house construction, Tobe was busy from early morning till late at night. The children and Emma helped in the shop whenever they could. On most days, the three older children worked in the shop after school. At urgent times, Tobe kept them home on school days to help get products out the door.
Emma wondered if life would ever be normal in the Stutzman household. Would Tobe ever be content to live like other people?
Emma: A Widow Among the Amish; A True Story Woven by Strands of Faith, and Community
Would he settle for a regular job with a steady income and a relaxed family life? At times she felt like she was riding in a buggy hitched to an ill-tamed horse. After Tobe had dragged the family from Kansas to Iowa in to take up metal fabricating, Emma had hinted to him that someone else might better manage the shop finances. How Emma longed for Tobe to change his course now, in the face of the deepening debt!
What was she to do when he gave no heed to her counsel? She sensed that Tobe was driven by a compelling ambition that she could not fully comprehend. The family had moved five times since coming to Iowa from Kansas five years ago. Most of the landowners gave them cheap rent or allowed them to pay with some kind of work. But moving frequently meant that it was difficult to develop a really productive garden. There was no time to build up the soil or get plants like asparagus growing.
It also meant that the children had attended three different country schools—Prairie Dale, Evergreen, and Pleasant Hill—and finally the town school in Kalona. At least Mary Edna was out of school now, having finished the eighth grade just last Tuesday. Each district had its own different bishop, with his idiosyncrasies and differing ways of interpreting the Ordnung, or church discipline, the guidelines for Christian conduct. Emma felt rootless, numbed by transplant shock. She wished they could live back home in the house they had built in Kansas.
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As long as they had a roof overhead, he was satisfied. And he was always optimistic that things would eventually turn out for the better. Rather than argue or try to change her husband of fifteen years, Emma determined to concentrate on keeping food on the table. Even though Tobe at times lost money by the shovelful, she would do her part to save by the spoonful.
Emma put the vegetables onto the kitchen counter and stepped into the living room, where Mary Edna was ironing. The three-year-old twins, Ervin and Erma, were playing on the floor nearby. Eight-year-old Edith, slowed by a mental handicap, was mumbling to herself in a nearby chair. Emma washed and trimmed the vegetables and put them into the refrigerator.
Open Preview See a Problem? Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. Preview — Emma by Ervin R.
Emma Stutzman's Amish life was abruptly altered when she learned about her husband's sudden and tragic death. Now a single parent, Emma must figure out how to respond to the pressures of modernization and the pull of mainstream culture. Will she regain her strength as a woman after so much stress and tragedy in her married life? How will she lead her children to faith in t Emma Stutzman's Amish life was abruptly altered when she learned about her husband's sudden and tragic death.
How will she lead her children to faith in the Amish Mennonite church without their father? Journey into the world of "Emma: A Widow among the Amish" and follow this true-life story of a woman left to raise six young children on her own after her world collapsed. Stutzman, the youngest son of Emma, paints a fictionalized but ultimately true story of his mother's daily struggle to provide for her children and be faithful to God.
This intimate portrait is a sequel to "Tobias of the Amish," the true-to-life story of the author's late Amish father. Paperback , pages. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Emma , please sign up. Lists with This Book. This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Aug 11, Clif Hostetler rated it liked it Shelves: This is a sequel to the book, "Tobias of the Amish" Link to my review. This book is the story of the author's mother, Emma, beginning at the time of his father's death.
It is thus the story of her experiences of being left a widowed mother of six children and the subsequent life among the Amish. Of course, being left a widow with young children is not a happy event. However, from this book I would surmise that if it is going to happen, having it happen within an Amish community is one of the be This is a sequel to the book, "Tobias of the Amish" Link to my review. However, from this book I would surmise that if it is going to happen, having it happen within an Amish community is one of the better places for it to happen.
Emma: A Widow Among the Amish
She was able to move back to her home community where a house was built for her and her children. This book, like the Tobias book, is written in the form of a novelized biography. It is basically a true story, but is told by an omniscient narrator capable of describing the inner thoughts and feelings of the book's characters together will their dialog. The story ends up being surprisingly interesting given the fact that it's a story of ordinary people living plain ordinary lives. Some readers may find this kind of story not all that interesting.
However, I had enough in common with those in the story that I found it fascinating. The book contains some photographs that will be of interest to readers. For example, the plan of her house and farmstead as well as the friendship quilt that was given to Emma when she left Iowa. When I first wrote this review I included here a link to some of the photos posted in the author's web page. But those links have been broken, and I can't find the photos on-line anymore. Here's a link to a Youtube video of the author talking about this book. It includes some photos of Emma and family.
Jul 11, Leslie rated it really liked it. This book was very interesting it took you from the death of Emma's husband Tobe to her death. It showed her courage to stay single and raise her children in the Amish way.
Emma: A Widow Among the Amish Archives - Mennonite Church USA
It takes you through the many changes the Amish church went through in great detail. I read through this book in about four days, because I kept picking it up and reading it; because I wanted to know what was going on with Emma and the kids each day. What was going to happen to them on any given day. Emma had to make the hard This book was very interesting it took you from the death of Emma's husband Tobe to her death. Emma had to make the hard choices, but she did with diginity and grace, and with no regrets after the decision had been made.
She trusted in God to do what was right in her life. Apr 29, Partridge Public added it Shelves: Jan 14, Abigail rated it liked it Shelves: This book is interesting mainly because it details some of the changes and Amish congregation went through in the s and '60s. It also details some things about daily life and culture which are interesting as well. Because this is Stutzman's memoir about his family and mother, there are sections that are dry to someone outside of his family who is reading it. A lot of people are mentioned by name, cousins and family members and it can be a lot to keep track of, especially to the casual reader This book is interesting mainly because it details some of the changes and Amish congregation went through in the s and '60s.
A lot of people are mentioned by name, cousins and family members and it can be a lot to keep track of, especially to the casual reader. I did enjoy the culture though and reading about some of the changes in the Amish church in Kansas. Sep 14, Karen Birman kent rated it liked it. Interesting sequel to Tobias of the Amish.