Never rains in Calif!?!?!

[Cry Tears]

They said it never rains in California.....oh yeah?
It was raining and raining one Feb day in 1969.
This was the first time in years we had a nicer home to live in as our mother had been in nursing school 3 long years and we only had Welfare to sustain us during this time.

Behind the house we were renting was a flood control "wash"...usually dry even in winter.
This time the water kept rising...but had 20 feet deep and 30 feet wide safety controls in place.

We lost everything in moments when a huge wall of mud came downriver.
A 12 yo boy drowned. We lived in Gentry Gymnasium there in Loma Linda, a Seventh Day Adventist community... for a few days till the Salvation Army came to help us with furniture and money for clothing.
I have a lot of respect for the Salvation Army because they came thru and helped us within days.
While in the gym...we received cold milk, cold cheese sandwhiches and cold fruit. We slept on cots covered with sheets and wool blankets. One long week of this and we were one happy family!
The Adventist helped us by giving us those wonderful ice cold sandwhiches!
I hope it didnt put any of them out....and am soooo very thankful my church school class mates helped me too! NOT! The snots!~ Never lifted as much as a finger to help me...but hey....we were poor and my father or mother wasn't a doctor like most kids there....so I was just chaff in their eyes.
But, hey...like I said...they gave us cheese sandwhiches!
Perhaps I should repay them the 25 cents they spent making my ice cold cheese sandwhiches. Probably used the cheepest cheeze they could find!
I remember them as being horrid...dried out bread, hard cheeze between the sliced bread...probably from day old thift center...no mayo either. Took a lot swallowing to get them down.....oh....a week of cold sandwhiches on a cold rainly day! How wonderful....what warm freindly people!
Cheryl

[lor]

Cheryl, What are you trying to say? It sounds like you didn't have the greatest sandwiches but they were free. Maybe they didn't know how long the situation would last so they got the cheese & put it on ice, for safe keeping of course, right away. Also, maybe the bread wasn't too bad at first, then those same loaves started getting old. Anyway, I don't think they ever planned on getting any money for the time. This year have a Merry Christmas :)

[joy]

I have been asking Cheryl some very personal questions and therefore I think it has perhaps released a lot of bad things that have happened to her all her life. I cannot imagine a small child having to endure some of the things she has and yet still grow up to be as good a person as I know her as. If it helps at all to release these bad feelings from her past I'd say it is good. I always think about people that make statements like "I can't stand to see... suffering in the hospital", or comments like this. I think if someone can live the pain, I darned well can stand to see their pain! I know it is more complicated than this but if any explanation is needed, this is what I'm offering for her and hopefully she won't mind what I've said.

[Cry Tears]

I grew up in this SDA community....the reason I'm so angry about the cold cheese sandwiches is because they could have done much better than this! There were only a few of us that had total devastated homes....less than 10.
If there had been hundreds or thousands of us...then I'd understand. This is Loma Linda University Hospital...the wealthiest community you could imagine! They could have done much better than cold cheese sandwiches for 50 people! But since we weren't part of the wealthy....we were treated like homeless bums! Not a single person from my church or school offered to help even with a bag of cast of clothing!
But there were 5 churches filled with very wealthy people all within walking distance of the Gym....you'd think they could have done a little better than cold cheese sandwiches. It was the Salvation Army that helped us...not the churches!
These same churches bragged extensivly about how they helped so many people.... their long boring talks and home movies of their 2 week Russion Mission trips...spending thousands of dollars going over there.....when we have bazzilions here in the US unable to even afford the simple basics....needy children,suffering elderly people right here in our own backyard...and they need to go over there? Spend all that $ for a "Mission" trip?
What could they accomplish in those short weeks? If they really want to help someone, send them the money they would spend in travel and lodging expenses....or help people here in our USA! I under stand people over seas are needy too.
I dont mean to be prejudice...but I just can't see spending like they do...its just foolish and doing only for self glory!
No one could even begin to understand where I'm coming from in regards to this. I know personally how preferential treatment is doled out.
It should never happen this way...but it does.
Happy Holidays! Cheryl

[lor]

Hi again Cheryl, I decided to write again to tell you I don't even know anything about Loma Linda area, I'm in Ohio. Also, what is an SDA community? Anyway, it sounds like the S.Army was doing what they usualy do for anybody that needs help but the ppl that were being rather ??? were the others in the neighborhood & from other churches. Yeah, someone coulda helped more.