Shine On Harvest Moon - Updated (again) for a Special Anniversary

UPDATE, May 16, 2023: Now today it would be my parents' 81st wedding Anniversary!  I have nothing more new to add to that, so I will just repost what I wrote last year with all of the previous information. Many of you may have already read this last year, but still there are some newcomers who haven't seen it yet, so in honor and memory of my dear parents, here's their story once again:

UPDATE, May 16, 2022:

I woke up this morning and realized that today would be my parents' 80th wedding anniversary! They were married on May 16th, 1942.  This was their wedding picture. 

Of course, they've both long been celebrating in heaven, Mama left this earth in 2006, and Daddy in 2011.  They were just 9 days short of celebrating their 64th anniversary when Mama passed away.  

This old newspaper clipping was discovered through my genealogy research.

And this picture was taken at my paternal Grandparents' home in Crafton, PA.,   probably around the time my parents got engaged.

L to R (front row) my Aunt Ruth, my mother Dorothea, my Aunt Marion, and my Grandmother Elva.

L to R (Back row) My Grandpa William H. Mursch, my Dad William F. Mursch, and my uncle Paul G. Mursch.  circa 1941? 

And here is my family in 2005, the year before my mother passed away:

Front: Mom and Dad

Back: my brother Russell, me, my brother Clifford, and my sister Doris

Our family in 2005 (most of them).

The majority of our Mursch family in 2018

And again in October 2019, at the celebration of life for our brother Russell. (RIP 4/29/2019)

Now here is the original story that I shared with you a couple of years ago (10/12/2020) about how my parents met, etc.

If you've followed me for very long you have already been made familiar with my little log cabin birdhouse that was built years ago by my son for my Dad.  HERE is a link to the original story.  That story was about "Christmas at the Cabin", but I was bored this weekend and thought to myself, "Why not have Autumn at the Cabin?  After all, if I recall my parents' love story correctly, it was autumn when they first met at the cabin.  (See their wedding picture in the photo below)

The story goes that my mother had met my father's sister Marion at the street car stop near Pittsburgh, PA., where they were both working as secretaries downtown.  They struck up a quick friendship and enjoyed getting to know each other as they rode to and from work each day on the street car.  My mother told her new friend how much she wanted to marry a farmer and be a farmer's wife some day.  Well, Marion told my mother that she knew just the young man for her! Her brother was studying soil conservation and agriculture at Penn State, and when he finished his studies he was going to have a farm!  And so it was determined that my mother would go with Marion up to their family vacation cabin in Cook's Forest for the weekend and meet her brother Bill.

My father said that when he first saw my mother coming across the field with his sister to meet him, he knew that she was the girl he wanted to marry! He hadn't even met her yet!

The story goes that they walked and talked all evening and most of the night long, for there was a big old harvest moon shining up in the sky, and they fell in love under the "harvest moon".

In the following years every so often they would sing this song in remembrance of that first night they met:

Shine On, Shine On Harvest Moon

The night was mighty dark so you could hardly see

For the moon refused to shine

Couple sitting underneath the willow tree

For love, they pined

Little May was kinda 'fraid of darkness

So she says "I guess I'll go."

Boy began to sigh, looked up to the sky

Told the sky his little tale of woe

So shine on

Shine on harvest moon

Up in the sky

I ain't had no lovin' since January, February, June or July

Snow time ain't no time to stay outdoors and spoon

So shine on

Shine on harvest moon for me and my gal

Snow time ain't no time to stay outdoors and spoon

So shine on

Shine on harvest moon for me and my gal

And so they courted for a while and when he finished his studies at college they got married and went to live on a farm where he had gotten a job as the farm manager.  

This picture was taken at their first farm in Mercer, PA. (circa 1943?) This is a rare occasion when both of my parents' families were together. My mother is not in this picture for some reason. I'm thinking she probably took the picture and was most likely expecting her first baby and didn't want her picture taken. But I love that both sets of my grandparents are in this picture.

L to R Front: my cousin Bill Moss, Uncle Ed Moss, Grandpa Benton F. Tedlie, Grandma Flora Sheets Tedlie, Grandma Elva (Sowers) Hill Mursch, Cousin Edson Moss

L to R Back: my Aunt Margie (Tedlie) Moss, Aunt Marion Mursch (Ryder), Grandpa William H. Mursch, my Dad William Fred Mursch, my Aunt Ruth Mursch (Gammie), and a friend that I do not know.

That was good for a few years, and right away the babies started coming along, one, two, and three all within a few years time.  Then he had the opportunity to go into a partnership with a gentleman who would finance a farm for him and my dad would jointly own the farm and do the actual farming. (This farm was in Clarion, PA). The other man was an attorney, but he loved farming and would come out and help on the weekends as often as he could.  A few years later another child would be born...me! My mother was loving being a farmer's wife and all was grand. 

Our family on Easter at my Aunt Audrey and Uncle Paul's farm, which was not far from our farm.

And again, our young family:

L to R: Russell, Clifford, Doris and Pam (me)  circa 1953

But then in a few years (early 1950's) times were getting difficult for farming. You either had to go big or get out.  They really didn't have the means to "go big", and so it was decided to sell the farm and we moved to Florida when I was almost six years old. It was a sad day when we sold the farm and packed up our belongings that we could take with us and moved away from our beloved horses, cows, chickens, our dog Laddie, and our cats.  My mother really didn't want to leave the farm and especially didn't especially want to move to Florida, but being the loving and obedient wife, she made the most of it.  Our family settled into Florida pretty well...and my dad built a beautiful home (Click HERE for more about that house) where we lived happily ever after. My parents both were able to live in their home until they passed away five years apart, and then the house was sold, and my parents are together again in heaven, where they say there is no need for the sun or the moon, but I bet they still love to sing that song and dance in the fields of heaven together now and then. 

Here's a close up of my mom and dad on their wedding day:

And here is what I call their heavenly picture, because it just looks like they are smiling down at us from heaven. This picture was taken for their 60th wedding anniversary, just four years before Mom would enter heaven, and Daddy five years after her.

"Shine on, shine on harvest moon, for me and my gal"

Addendum:

Here is a picture of my Mom at the cabin in 1976, when they went back to visit relatives in PA.  My grandparents sold the cabin when they retired and moved to Florida in the 1950's.  However, the new owners kept it pretty much exactly the way my grandparents had left it, with the exception they added indoor plumbing and a bathroom.  

For my parents' 50th anniversary in 1992 our whole family went back to PA for a family reunion at my uncle's home, which was near the cabin and also near our old farm.  The new owners of the cabin very graciously allowed our family to tour the old cabin and hear my Dad share the story of how he and his dad built the cabin when my dad was a teenager. It was their family vacation home for many years while they still lived in the Pittsburgh area, which made for a happy fresh air escape from the noise and soot of the big city back in the day. I have an old video movie of our visit there. I wish I could somehow condense it to play it here some way. It was a wonderful time together for us all to hear the story again of how my parents met and fell in love at this cabin.

But here is a little highlight of our visit to the cabin that day in 1992.  My Dad is showing off and and trying to balance himself on the rock that sits next to the driveway to the cabin, which says "Pinoke Lodge". That is the same rock my grandparents put there when they built the cabin, and somewhere there is a picture of my grandfather standing on that rock just the same way. I wish I had it.  

This is a real treasure: L to R: (Front): My Aunt Marion, (who introduced my parents) (Back): My mother and my Aunt Ruth, (Daddy's little sister)

This picture was taken on that same rock not long after my parents met

And here is our family, standing in front of the cabin in 1992:

L to R: Daddy, Mama, Russell, Clifford, Doris and Pam (me).

I hope you have enjoyed this little walk down memory lane to the cabin with me. 

 5/16/2023:  Happy Heavenly 80th  81st Anniversary to my parents!  And even though you may have already seen this picture on a recent post for Mother's Day, I am adding it here again so it becomes a part of this family "record" for the future.    I just love this picture so much, I can't seem to get enough of looking at it.  It makes me happy and a little sad at the same time. We were all so young and innocent and healthy and happy then. It was a very happy time. This picture also includes our doggie Laddie, who I loved so very much.  I am very thankful for this family that God placed me in!

L to R: Clifford, Russell, Laddie, Mama, Doris, Daddy and me!

Christmas at The Cabin ~ Updated

Update January 8, 2020...Thought I'd update this old favorite post again...I know it's too late for Christmas already, but my mother's 103rd birthday was this week (Jan. 6), and she and my dad are celebrating in heaven...and I just had them on my mind and wanted to read this again.  I also posted a few new pictures at the end.  I kind of "dressed up" the Cabin for winter time, and thought you might enjoy seeing it come to life!!  So without further adieu, here is the story once again. 

Last update in 2017:

This story was originally written in 2008 for my Father's Christmas card, after my Mother had passed away in 2006.  In 2011, my Father joined my Mother in heaven, and the family home was sold and all the family belongings were dispersed to the four winds (and the four kids).  But the happy memories linger...and those can never be taken away. I originally posted this story in 2010, but just thought you'd enjoy reading it again.

"Christmas At The Cabin"

"The Cabin" drawn by my father, William F. Mursch, circa 1933
Story written by Pamela Mursch Steiner, for the Mursch Family Christmas Card, 2008

A long time ago in a land far away, a young man spent his summers and weekends helping his father build the family vacation home, better known as “The Cabin”. It was a rustic and quiet place, far from the black soot and noise of the big steel mills in the city. Oftentimes some of the gang from college would go up to “The Cabin” with the young man to spend the weekend in the woods, just having plain good fun away from their hard work at school.

Three Beautiful Girls...(front) (Dad Mursch's sisters:) Marion Mursch Ryder and
Ruth Mursch Gammie. (Back) Dorothea Tedlie Mursch (my mother)  This
was taken  at The Cabin either before or shortly after my parents were married.

On one such weekend the young man was looking forward to his trip to the cabin, for his sister had promised him a “surprise”. She was bringing up a friend from the city...a young lady who yearned for the fresh air of the country…

That weekend forever changed history in the life of this young man...for when he saw the beautiful girl with the dimpled knees coming across the field to meet him, his fate was sealed. His heart went out to her at first sight and he told his college friend beside him, “That’s the girl I’m going to marry!”

And so after a night of walking and talking with this beautiful maiden and singing in the moonlight together, her heart too reached out to his, and in a short time they became Man and Wife.

“The Cabin” became ever ingrained in their hearts as the beginning place of great joy and happy memories. Even when they lived on their own farm just a few miles away, they still spent many holidays with loved ones and friends at “The Cabin”.

As the years went by, the family moved south to find better opportunities, and “The Cabin” was sold to a new family. Our “couple” was now a family of six, and the young man built a new home, with the help of his retired father, working together side by side as once before. This new home was built of brick and mortar instead of logs and chinking. It soon became the place for all the family gatherings and times of making happy memories together.

Christmas at their home was always a very joyous time, with the whirring sounds of a toy locomotive running under the tree, a warm fire by which to hang our stockings with care, the aroma of Mom’s apple pies and sugar cookies baking in the oven, and the sounds of Santa’s sleigh bells ringing with a “Ho Ho Ho!” shouted from somewhere in the night stillness filling our minds with wonder and delight!

Now the once young man (at the time of the original writing in 2008)  has reached his ninetieth year, and his beautiful girl with the dimpled knees is running through the fields of glory, helping the angels build the new “Cabin” in heaven, as she looks forward to welcome him there someday. He sits by his fireside and remembers all the good times they had together, and reminisces about all the friends and loved ones who have gone on before him, and especially those idyllic days of yore spent at “The Cabin” with his beautiful girl.

Oh what happy memories! God so truly blessed this family with such a home! Only God knew what joy was in store for that young man and young lady on that day at The Cabin...for 64 years their time together was so precious! And that couple became a family of six, which added four “in-law” children, plus many grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and the family traditions go on and on...The sons build their houses and the daughters bake the pies like their mother taught them. The grandchildren and great grandchildren play with the trains and the dolls and carry on the family traditions each in their own way.

Thank you, Lord, for these precious memories....

May Christmas at your "Cabin" be a time of joy and peace,

filled with happy memories for all!

 

"The Cabin" Birdhouse, built by my son Benton Steiner, circa 2010,

which now sits on our bookshelves to remind us of those pleasant memories every day.

"Mi Casa Es Su Casa" -Recycled from August 2010

I was just thinking about this earlier post, originally published about a year ago.  Thought it was worth "recycling" again.  Hope you enjoy and will think about the ideas at the end...maybe God is nudging YOU to open your door to someone experiencing difficult times in their lives...We are called to share what God has given us with those in need...so perhaps this will be a challenge to someone today...Just a thought...

"The Cabin", as drawn by my Dad, William F. Mursch, circa 1939

When I was just a little girl living on the farm in Pennsylvania, the highlight of each year was the annual corn roast at my grandparents' log cabin in the forest. My dad, grandfather, and uncles would all gather in fresh sweet corn from the fields and carry it over to "The Cabin", as it was affectionately called, for a family reunion. All the cousins, aunts, uncles, great uncles and great aunts, and grandparents would come together for a day of feasting and celebration. We children would play hide and go seek, climb trees, swing on the swing, eat, and see what kind of mischief we could get into. It was the kind of day in which happy family memories are made.


Unfortunately, "The Cabin" was sold to another family when my grandparents retired and moved to Florida and the family clan dispersed to various distant parts of the country. But the sights, sounds and smells of those happy days have lingered in my mind for all these years. When I grew up and got married, I told my husband that if we ever had an opportunity to do so, we would have a log cabin or home to share with our family and friends in the same way that my grandparents had done.

A Birdhouse Model of  "The Cabin", built by my son

Throughout our years of serving in the ministry we not only personally experienced, but also witnessed among our colleagues a real need for a "haven of rest" or a place of refuge from the stresses and strains of life in the "goldfish bowl" of the parsonage. Many dedicated servants of God suffer greatly from "burn-out" and have even had to leave the ministry because of the overload of stress on their families and homes. Oftentimes the course they decided to take could have been changed if they had only had an opportunity to get away from it all for a little while for a refreshing vacation. Unfortunately, most ministers live on a very strict budget and are unable to afford a Disney vacation or even a week at the ocean or the mountains or a cruise to the Bahamas. The only vacation most clergy families get might be a trip to visit the relatives in another state, which is hardly ever relaxing or restful!

It has long been our desire to provide such a place of refuge for those who need it the most; a "home away from home" where a worn out pastor and his wife and family could rest and read and walk and talk and relax in whatever way they found helpful. A place where the telephone (including cell phone, laptop) and the television would not get in the way of their time of communing with God and with each other. Nothing could make us happier than to be able to hand a haggard looking minister and his equally exhausted wife the keys to our home and tell them to just "enjoy"! We know from experience what a blessing even just a few days away from the pressures of a busy ministry can be in the life of the pastor and his family.

A further area of need we personally have experienced is that of the family who has been through traumatic illness or injury. Quite a few years ago now, our eighteen year-old son was diagnosed with having a brain tumor. Fortunately for him, his was not a malignant tumor, but the ordeal of major brain surgery and consequent changes in lifestyle for our son and for us, along with the accumulated medical bills, added more stresses to an already overstressed home. We were so blessed in that our son survived and went on to get married and have a son and a happy, productive life. However, just recently he has been diagnosed with another form of cancer, and is going through chemotherapy and all the misery and uncertainty that goes along with that. Even though he has a strong marriage and family support, this is a very traumatic time in their lives.** Oftentimes following such a difficult experience, many families simply break up. They can't cope with the sorrow and pain. I know from our own experience that there were many times when we really needed to get away from it all and have some time alone to cry, pray, think, and hope. However, when faced with insurmountable medical bills and other expenses adding up daily, how could we even think of getting away? We were extremely thankful when some loving friends opened their vacation cottage to us and told us to "enjoy".

The one phrase that has stuck with me from my years of studying Spanish in high school is "Mi casa es su casa", which means, "My house is your house." I have so often wished that we could have such a place to share with others in this way; a home where the door would always be open for those who need to get away from it all. A cottage or a cabin or even a spare guest room, and a welcoming invitation... Even though we are now buying a home, it is rather small and not conducive to having a lot of company. However, I’m not giving up the dream...one of these days I do believe God will make a way possible for us to do exactly what we have dreamed of doing, and when He does, I hope you will be around to hear me say, “Mi casa es su casa,” Enjoy!!

 Perhaps you have a such a place that could be a blessing to a family going through some kind of crisis, burn-out, or who just need a place to get away.  Maybe God is speaking to you about sharing your home, cottage, cabin, timeshare, or even an RVwith someone for whom it could be a life-saver...or marriage saver!  Think about it...pray about it...and if the idea could work...call your Pastor or someone you know and make the offer..."Mi Casa Es Su Casa"...Enjoy!!!  It could be the best gift you ever gave.

**UPDATE 5/10/2018: An update regarding our son mentioned above when this was originally written...sadly our precious son passed away from his four year battle with cancer in 2014. The need for a place to rest and be ministered to was very real for us then, and still is today....and our dream is still to provide such a place for others going through this difficult time of sorrow.  Our current home has a guest room, but we are still somewhat limited as to being able to make it available to others since we still have other family members living in our home. Still praying for that special little guest cabin to become a reality. Keep praying!!