| The Creative Expressions of... Bill Vivrett |
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| Updated 03.02.06 |
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| Page 2 of 8 |
| THE TROLL.... It was late August of 1942. This was a troop train vacuuming new recruits from all over the Midwest, with some bound for newly opened Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri. It was hot in Missouri, some said foretelling a very mild winter. Harry John and Kristin Leah Nordstrom grew up on a dairy farm outside Spring Green, Wisconsin. In February of '42', both parents had been killed in an auto accident. Both children were sent to foster care in Madison, where they were split up. "God bless Great Aunt Maude," Harry thought. Their great aunt Maude MacWatter lived in Little Rock and when she heard about the family tragedy, she contacted the court, persisted and got legal custody. "Kristin has met her but I haven't," Harry reasoned. Then, he too became submersed in his own musings as he sat at the back of the aisle on the floor. Kristin was up in the first railroad car and even had a seat. She felt secure, surrounded by experienced MP's assigned to keep order enroute. Kristin Leah Nordstrom had always been a happy child, vivacious and innocently effervescent, but no longer. No, she could feel a change, a darker mood. "The only way I can ever come out of this is to focus on Harry and our chance to be a family again," she thought. The young MP's in her rail car left her alone, sensing that was what she needed most from them. But their first sergeant sensed a different need from her-the need for a father figure who was a good listener. "My brother, Harry is back there," she began. "Harry always was-well, exceptional-in every way! It was kind of weird," she tapered off. "He only had one flaw, if one could call it that; he never could stand to be alone unless it was on his own terms." "Which one is he?" asked the 1st sergeant. "I've made several sweeps through the train for weapons shakedowns. All the boys are still in civvies and I never noticed one younger boy in the last car, though all the cars are crowded." "Oh, Harry was always big for his age! He blends right in with the older boys-except for his eyes," she added softly. "There is something about his eyes. "Well, it is certainly dark back there; we found no weapons. Most of those kids are just a little older than he is, anyway." She started again, "Everything came easy for him-It really did! I remember, when he was a toddler, how he bubbled with each new discovery and with the sheer joy of being alive. All Harry's life, he sparkled with quiet assurance in every new challenge." The 1st sergeant just nodded, pensively, thinking of his own sixteen-year-old daughter and fourteen-year-old son in Columbia, Missouri. Kristin continued, brightening as she talked about Harry. "Sergeant, it is almost like a whiff of magic that comes along with Harry. Anyone's best traits are somehow brought out for ever after!" Enthusiastically, she continued, "Oh, maybe not noticeably, at first. But eventually this is what always happens." "You see, Harry has this people acumen and common sense wisdom far beyond his years." The MP sergeant nodded, a bit puzzled. "Well I'm going to make rounds again with my next guard detail, just so I can meet Harry. That will be at 0300 hours." And he got up for more coffee. "I did not see him," the 1st sergeant said, upon returning. "But they were all asleep and it was dark." Kristin, too, was asleep and did not hear his report. Even before conception, Harry John Nordstrom had been richly blessed by the one true God he did not yet even know (PS 139:14). |
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