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LaRose Karr lives in Sterling, Colorado with her husband Larry and four children. She is a church secretary and a contributing writer to "God Allows U-Turns" and "More God Allows U-Turns," published under the Promise Imprint by Barbour Publishing. She can be reached by email at: rosiebay@kci.net She will have a devotional included in the Sept. - Oct. 2002 of "The UpperRoom" magazine. She believes her writing is a gift from God and gives HIM all the glory! She is the editor of "Moonflower Ministry." To receive this weekly Christian inspirational digest, (only one email sent per week) send a blank email to: LaRoseStories-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
We became acquainted with Mr. Amen in the Spring of 1990 when we bought our house. He and the missus had already lived in the neighborhood for thirty years and owned the house directly across the street from ours. Stepping into their living room was like stepping back in time to the 1950’s. From early spring till late in the fall, Jake, in his late 80’s, would sit outside underneath his one tree in a lawn chair. He loved the neighborhood kids and pets. He took great pleasure in people young and old. Mr. Amen’s tree began to die from Dutch Elm disease many years ago but rather than lose the lone tree in his front yard; he trimmed and babied it. Sadly in the fall of 1996, Jake cut it down. My husband and I both felt this was a sign when Mr. Amen’s tree finally had to go. Our friend Gary cut it down and it was an event the neighborhood watched very solemnly. The cutting of his tree even stopped the ice cream truck from traveling down our block. Mr. Amen was 92 that year and knew his limitations. Two years before, we knew his health was failing when he began to lie down in his yard and take naps. He sometimes curled his light jacket underneath his head for use as a pillow. I must confess the first time I saw him do that, I walked over and quietly stood beside him for a while to make sure he was breathing. I thought he might have passed away. He played with my son from the time he was two years old, Jeremiah is now thirteen. He called our daughter Rhea, the sweetheart of the block. And on Sunday mornings when we walked to church, he would be sitting out in his lawn chair waiting to see us go, dressed in our Sunday best. He would begin to clap his hands and say "That's beautiful! That's beautiful!" We’d shout, “Come go with us!” But he never did, you see he had health problems. I wrote a story for a newsletter some years ago and featured Mr. Amen and a picture of him sitting under his tree. We wanted to do a piece on past county fairs. He answered many questions about how the fairs had changed in his lifetime. One thing he said that stuck out in my mind was about the Indians. They attended county fairs in the early days and won all the rodeo events. Their skills were phenomenal. I asked him what they wore and he said "Just about naked." Often through the years, I had many talks with him about every subject imaginable. He loved his mother, the Lord, and the hard work he and the missus did all their lives. Our neighborhood has not been the same without him. Our family still misses our truly good friend. Mr. Amen once told us that if we moved we’d leave a blank space for the people around here. Not so, it was he who left the space in our hearts. He passed away in the winter of 1996. He didn’t live to see another summer without his tree. © 2001, LaRose Karr
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She believes her writing is a gift from
God. 
