Faith is very important in my life. Bill was a church-goer when I met him. I was catholic; he was Lutheran. I converted to Lutheran after talking with him about getting married. I knew I wanted to use birth control, so why stay a catholic if you’re not going to be a good catholic?

The Lutheran church was very similar, so it didn’t make much of a difference to me. I converted before I got married and I started going to the Lutheran church in the Bronx. That’s where we were married.

We were church-goers in Schenectady. When we moved to Texas, because our daughters were older, things started getting more complicated. Their gymnastics and events were on Saturdays and Sundays. Sometimes we would travel both days.

This was also the nineteen seventies and the dawn of the women’s movement. It grated on me being in church and listening to all the references to “he” and “him” and “his”. I am a feminist.

So we dropped out of the church in the nineteen seventies. In Klamath Falls we started to go back to church. We had wonderful pastors in both Klamath Falls and Olympia. In Prineville we also had a wonderful Lutheran pastor. When he left, the new pastor was a fundamentalist and didn’t sit well with us.

The Lutherans and Episcopalians are in full communion with one another. In a prime go there was an Episcopal church so we changed and started going there. It’s working out wonderfully.

Feminism

When I meet someone I don’t see a guy or gal. I see another human being. I feel that’s the way it should be. I know that some women are not able to do the same job as some men. There are differences but there are a lot that is the same to. It bothers me when women are not treated the same.

One of the very nice things about the Episcopal Church is that even though they haven’t changed the hymnal, the pastor changes the words! It’s very inclusive. The Episcopal Church itself welcomes everyone.

My youngest daughter is a real feminist. She kept her maiden name. In fact she has a boy and a girl and her daughter has her last name and her son has her husband’s last name. I didn’t really teach this to my kids except by example.

We’re all contradictions and a way. In one way I’m a feminist; in another way and I’m very old-fashioned. Bill gets served his meals. Bill doesn’t know how to open the refrigerator door. (Laughing).

When I was working fulltime Bill and decided to retire. He tried it for a month. I had always told him: “you know, I would love to come home to a wife and a hot-cooked meal.”

But it’s just not something he does. He’s got a lot of other good qualities. He puts up with anything that I make. He will eat the same thing five nights in a row if I serve it to him. He doesn’t complain so I’ve got it good.