Re: The Living Word Fellowship, The Walk, John Robert Stevens
Date: October 11, 2018 12:49AM
Thank you all for the welcome to the forum. I'll address some of your points and questions.
- First, Onion ... thank you so much for sharing your experiences with my Aunt Bessie. Yes, she was a wonderful person. I'm so happy to know that she was loved. And it was my experience that she was a giving and generous person. I know that she always went out of her way to make my parents, brother and myself feel welcome even when we showed up late at night. So Bessie feeling people from her crockpot makes complete sense to me and I can picture and hear her feeding and talking to people. Thank you for that.
-Second, the "mean cocktail" is no surprise to me. Her late ex-husband, my Uncle Buss (Earl) Cleland, liked his mixed drinks. That Bessie developed bartender-level skills does not surprise me. That's completely consistent with the Bessie I knew.
- Third, a little background on me that helps put in context the story I'm about to tell ... I was born and grew up in Southern California, but I've considered Chicago, the Chicago area, my home since graduate school. I was living in Chicago at the time when I visited Bessie in the nursing home(?) not long before she died. She had developed melanoma and it had gone untreated for years (I was told). Anyway, I still can see her face light up when I walked into the room with my parents. I don't believe that she knew I was in the area. She was so frail and using a walker. Nevertheless, when she gave me that beaming smile, I saw again the vital Aunt Bessie I had seen in my early years.
- Fourth, that Marilyn was a twin? That rings a bell, however, I'm not completely certain. But if you heard it from Bessie, then it's true. I'll check with Charles to see if he knows.
- Fifth, and a point about my moniker, fromsouthchicago. It's a moniker I've used for years. If see this moniker in other forums, be assured that's me.
- Sixth, this will be my last item on this post. I promise I'll post more. And I'll let you know if my travels will take me near "The Farm" when I have a date certain. Anyway, here's the story I wanted to tell you: my wife and I were visiting California and helping to clean out my Dad's house. He was moving to my brother's home in Covina. We found some photos and in that pile of photos was a large photo of Marilyn from her senior year in high school. Have any of you seen photos of Marilyn when she was young? My wife was actually taken aback when she saw the photo because Marilyn was spectacularly beautiful.
Marilyn learned how to use her looks to get wanted. At what point in her life did it became clear to her she could use her beauty to acquire power, money ... and whatever else she wanted? My guess would be was when "Brother" Stevens started paying lots of attention to her and began raising her status and profile in the cult. If memory serves me, it started shortly after she joined.
In later postings, I'll tell you some family stories.
All for now ... more later.