Ozarkparson's Blog

From High School in Lafayette California to college in Manhattan,Kansas to corporate jobs in Southern California and Salina Kansas. to Topeka Kansas to Everett and Robinson, Scranton, Goff and Wetmore in Kansas to Lakeview Heights in Missouri to Lake Creel and Florence in Missouri (we lived outside of Lincoln Missouri) to the last two years in Boonville,Missouri.

I have friends and relatives who grew up in the same town or county in which they were born Of course, if asked, I would say to them that they really needed to broaden their horizons. A relative of Marilyn’s was a B-17 bomber pilot in WW II stationed at one point iin England ,bombing factories in
Germany. He served 4 years in the Air Corps and when the war was over came right back to the place he was born and where he left for the service. I asked him. if in seeing the world he would want to live somewhere else and he said it never occurred to him to do anything else;

All this is to say, as we well know we are all different in our approach to life. God’s plan for me probably would not be right for most people. However I am so grateful for the places i gave been
and especially the people I have met along the way. I told Marilyn many years ago when we were considering a move to Missouri, because of where I have been and the different people and situations that I have encountered , you could drop me anywhere and I would not only survive but thrive.

I have been happy here in Boonville.I have met a lot of wonderful people in the church, Lions Club, Mizzou Physical Therapy where I exercise three days a week, downtown merchants , library employees etc. When Marilyn passed away various people started asking again about maybe me moving back to Kansas.

You know, I wouldn’t have entertained a move but things that Marilyn and I envisioned for our living in Boonville haven’t worked out since her death My daughter Cindy who bless her heart has not pushed me moving until recently .She now argues that she and her brother can’t take care of me if I am in Boonville. (although the medical system at Univ Missouri is excellent)

I consulted with some good friends (from Houston and from Milford Conn.) with all the factors I considered in whether or not to move, They agreed that I needed to be by my family. So, August first 2020 I will be in Wichita Kansas/ All my grandkids and greatgrandkids are in Wichita. Marilyn and I lived there for a few years before she got promoted and we moved to Topeka. So I am familiar with the town.I have a church, East Heights United Methodist Church There are still some people that we went to church with and socialize with, so I feel the decision will be a good and satisfying one. My daughter Cindy is 60 miles north in McPherson and son Scott is an hour and a half in Manhattan.

I thank everyone who made Marilyn and me feel welcome in Boonville.OF course this is Marilyn’s home town and she got reacquainted with many people she had known in the past. I was happy that she fit right in here.

God has called us to welcome strangers and I know that this town will embrace all those who come here to live. Not only welcome them but invite them to church. social group or civic organization.

It has been a pleasure and I will miss you

Pastor Bill Siebert