Stalking the Amish

I was in Lewisville today running some errands when I happened upon this Amish family. For some peculiar reason, I am totally infatuated with the Amish. I remember every once in a while when I was young and we were traveling, I would see horse-drawn carriages with the orange reflector triangle on the back. That sight was so curious to behold, particularly as we raced by in our car.

I personally encountered an Amish couple during a college summer in Tribune, Kansas. I spent two summers in Tribune with my Aunt Ruby, Uncle Jim, and cousins Emily and Sarah, and one year, I worked in the hospital where I was able to assist in the delivery room of this beautiful young Amish woman. She and her husband were the sweetest, most peaceful couple I had ever met, and their apparent love for one another impacted me deeply. A few months later, I heard that the young husband had been killed in a farming accident, and I always wondered what happened to the wife and their new baby.

A few years back, we were at James' family's house, which is filled with books. James' grandmother reads novels back-to-back. I forgot to bring reading materials with me, so I picked a book off her shelf. It was the middle book of a Beverly Lewis series all about the Amish. I couldn't get enough. I read that book over the weekend. I read its sequel while laying in the backseat on the seven hour drive home. Since then, I've read all the other Lewis books written, along with a few other writer's Amish offerings. I even once aspired to cook like the Amish and invested in a lovely cookbook, but thus far I have had absolutely no success. (I was born without a Betty Crocker bone.)

Anyway, this Amish obsession is the real deal. Even a couple of weeks ago while having coffee with our friends Corey and Amy, we were talking about vacations. Hawaii was mentioned, Orlando I think, the Mountains of Colorado, and Lancaster County, Pennsylvania (Amish Country). Any guess which locale was mine? Any guess which locale was the absolute least popular? (Amy did say she'd go with me, but I think I promised some baked goods and a stay in a B&B.)

So, today when I passed by that Amish family, I had to think of something to say. You cannot be in the Metroplex and see an Amish family and just walk on by. At least, I can't. Maybe it's just me. My mind raced as I thought of what I could possibly say to them. I wondered if I was even allowed to talk to them. I nearly let them get away until I called out to them and came up with the most brilliant thing I could think of.

"So, are you from around here?"

WHAT?! That's the best I could do? They're AMISH -- of course they're not from around here!

Fortunately, they seemed as interested in me as I was in them, so they were glad to share quite a bit with this Englisher. Daniel runs a sawmill. Sylvia stays home with her eight children. I discovered they were in Dallas to take the husband's mother to the doctor in Flower Mound. They rode from New York to Dallas on an AmTrak train, and then hired a Mennonite family to drive them to Lewisville where they now stayed. Since they couldn't drive themselves around, a shuttle would take them from the hotel to their appointment and back.

The husband, Daniel, asked me how far they were from Dallas, and how from Flower Mound. I said they were very close to Flower Mound, and about nineteen miles to Dallas. "That far?," he asked, "It looked alot closer on my map." I confirmed the distance and wondered why they hadn't Googled it before I remembered they were Amish. Good grief!

After a few moments of small talk about where they live and where I live, we said our goodbyes and went seperate ways, but I couldn't get them out of my mind. I didn't tell them my name. I didn't ask them their names. I came face to face with a people group of major interest to me, and I left knowing really nothing more than their itenerary. The kids and I walked around the store we had come to in the first place, but I couldn't shake the thought of them at all. We finished our shopping, left the store, and as we drove across the parking lot, I saw them in Wendy's.

Long story slightly shorter, I stopped the car, went in to Wendy's, introduced myself and my children, and learned more about them. I couldn't be more excited! We visited for probably fifteen minutes, and then exchanged addresses. I now have Amish penpals!! I'm looking so forward to learning more about them, their family, their community, just everything. Stalking the Amish pays off.