From Beth Jordan, Bangalore, India

Many different emotions hit me when I heard the news of Ricky and Angela’s deaths. It was not an easy thing to hear or even understand why there are people in this world who kill and hurt. Things were not meant to be this way. Good, loving and caring people are not mean to be brutally killed and then mocked and maimed by those who care not for life.

I kept asking myself “Why? How could this happen? Why are there people today who make it their goal to destroy us and end our way of life?” I have heard their “reasons,” the accusations, the “stories” that they say happened and I thought “Let me ponder this and try and get some answers to these questions straight in my mind.”

So, I took a long walk yesterday, not in a park or through the city, but down the long Memory Lane of the last 26 years of my life. “Is it possible?” I wondered, “that I was surrounded my abusers, robots, and uncaring parents and never even noticed?”

So I walked … I can see it now … my mom teaching me when I was 2 years old. Well she was mainly teaching my 2 older brothers and older sister but I was a bright kid and I can see my mom’s face as bright and as happy as can be when I read the word “blue” on a flashcard that she was showing to my older brother. She was thrilled! I was thrilled that she was thrilled and that day was the beginning of many days of being taught to read so that by the time I was 3 I was reading books on my own. There were four of us—Joe, Jean and Simon and then came me—and what a family we were. Ah such memories! …..

(Still walking down the Lane)
Dad and Mom used to sing and sing … so we always sang together in the evenings and they would invite the other families that we would be living with to join us for the songs and stories together. The atmosphere was so full of love as Dad would write a song for each of the kids and then teach it to all of us. Then we would all sing it together and I certainly felt proud when he would sing my song.

(More walking….)
We traveled to so many places throughout my life and I loved every bit of it. I think that is why I still love traveling so much, cause it brings back so many good memories. …..France, Spain, Italy, Malta, Tunisia, India, Canada, USA, Mexico,…so so many places…so much fun! What I now know about each of those countries and their way of life is amazing and I have such fun now telling my own life stories to the kids that I live with, telling them about the adventures, the languages, the cultures, things you could never learn from a book.

(What a lovely walk this is….)
Mom was the best teacher—whiz in math and never let me or my brothers or sister get away with “I don’t understand” or “it’s too hard.” School was fun and she loved it (she was the highest grade student in her college). She passed on that love of learning to us kids and now years later with 2 kids of my own, I can only hope that I can pass on that same joy of learning to my kids the way that she did to me.

(Looking back down the Memory Lane that I just walked on…..)
There are some amazing people that filled my life and added to my joy and they certainly take their place in my Memory Lane as heroes to me.
There was Kathy, who read us stories, sang songs while we danced around silly . Then one day she got sick, her kidney’s stopped functioning we were told and she had to leave. I never lived with her again after that but she kept writing me for years and we kept in touch until almost the day that she died, every letter filled with love and care and prayers for me and my new family.

Then there was Stephan and Pheobe, an American couple that we lived with in India with many children of their own, who would take us along whenever they went on a special outing and my parents were busy, who taught us school, music and art.

Gosh, there are too many to write about. ….Tim and Joy who helped me through my rough teen years when I was emotional and topsy-turvy but they were always cool, calm and understanding and just let me talk.

I look back on all these people and to me they are saints and perhaps angels who made my life a little richer by being a part of it. That’s just the way that it was, the way that it is, everyone in The Family loves kids and teaches them special things, tells them stories or passes on some words of wisdom. That’s just the way it is and my life is fuller because of it.

Just a short walk into My Memory Lane and I am convinced once again that those people who are so full of bitterness and hatred against The Family have got it all wrong somehow. This is the life that many kids long for. I know. I have talked with many teens and young people growing up in society today and I don’t brag, I tell them my life and how I live and they come and see it and all they can say is “I wish I had this growing up.” To me that says a lot and to those who haven’t seen it for yourself I say “Come and See.” We have nothing to hide. Come and meet me and my wonderful husband and my kids and those that we live with and you judge for yourself rather than listen to the lies that some are saying.

We follow the Bible and strive to live it every day and if that is what these apostates and former members don’t like, well, they don’t have to like it, but they don’t have to be against it and out to destroy it. Even in the political world of nations, a stance like that would be classed as ethnic cleansing and infringement on human rights.

At this point and having lived it first hand, I can only say that there is nothing more that I want for my kids than to be raised the way my parents raised me and I strive for that every day starting with a prayer at the beginning of each day “Lord, please make me a better person, a better mother, so that my kids may know and believe that You love and care for them.”

My kids are small now, only 3 and 1, but I know that already this upbringing has given them a jumpstart on life. My little girl can read, prays on her own, loves her school time and learning new things and most of all cares when she sees others sad and wants to help people who are hurt or poor or in need. She came running to me the other day, bounding with happiness after having made a little baby stop crying and said “Mommy, my talent is making babies happy! If any baby is sad, I will make them laugh!”

I can only hope and pray that others would at least look with an open and Godly mind and ask yourself if those who are trying to destroy us and besmirch us and smear us with all sorts of lies and accusations are praying and asking God to help to be a better person, someone who brings life and happiness where they go, not take it away.

Every so often something triggers a walk down my Memory Lane of life and I quite enjoy that walk. Yesterday’s walk was a great one. I felt warm and cozy and loved and if I could say something to my parents right now it would be this, “Thank you for raising me in The Family and being the best parents I could ever have. I am honored to walk in your shoes and may my kids say the same of me one day.”

Beth Jordan is a second-generation member of The Family International