Reflections On A Long and Blessed Life, No. 43: The Paulsons

My life and work in my first post-graduation life was greatly enriched through the friendship of John and Margaret Paulson. They were the parents of 2 boys and 2 girls and were major Central California growers. At one point they had over a section (640 acres) of land under irrigation and production. They raised tons of tomatoes, loads of melons, bushels of almonds. All irrigated by Central California water lines. All of it picked by hand by migrant Mexican laborers and hauled to the tomato and other plants in massive trucks.

But more important than the crops they cultivated was the people they raised, people, including me. They lived too far out in the country to send their children to my Lutheran school but they were amazingly open to this single guy and later to Jane, then to our son David and eventually to our whole family of seven.

I had barely arrived when they had me out to their beautiful home sitting among their vast acreage. Since I had no car of my own they picked me up for meals and then returned me. They served wonderful food and introduced me to the whole concept of farming with irrigated water (something I had not seen in the Texas farms of my youth). They were by far the most generous contributors of the congregation and when money was short (as it seemed to always be) they would come through and eventually I would get my salary.

When our first son, David, was born naturally Margaret was a sponsor (godparent). Later when our first daughter was born we named her Margaret.

Their children were models of good behavior and commitment. Their eldest became a Lutheran pastor, the next eldest a Commissioned Lutheran teacher who later married a pastor. The next daughter was/is my goddaughter and still is a successful California famer. The youngest son was/is a community leader.

But there is also sadness. One year John borrowed a lot of money (as he did every year) to plant and irrigate his crops that in this particular year focused upon acres and acres of melons of various kinds. Just when the harvest season arrived rains came-and they kept coming and kept coming. They prevented the fields from being harvested. Not a single melon was ever picked and delivered. So there was not only no profit, there was no money to repay the short-term loan. The lending bank was merciless. It moved in, took John and Margaret’s land leaving them only their home. This was devastating. But they remained steadfast, continued to work as tenant farmers and eventually retired. After John’s death his son told me, “You know dad scrimped and worked and saved and he eventually paid back ever penny of that debt that they owed, but never got their farm back.”

Meanwhile their friendship with us endured. They wonderfully took Jane and me to San Francisco on the night before we left for our first term of service in Hong Kong. They rook us to the famous Mark Hopkins Hotel. There they treated us to a dinner in an environment the likes of which we had never experienced before. They sent us gifts while we were in Hong Kong. When my wife Jane was flown home due to a medical emergency and we had to spend a night in San Francisco between airplane flights they heard about our situation. They came to he airport, picked up our five kids, took them for the night and returned them the next morning with every single one of them decked out in a completely new suit of clothes.

Later they suffered deep disappointment at St. Paul’s church. The new pastor decided that “contemporary worship” was the only way to go. The Paulsons’ (and other’s) preference for the traditional liturgies were ignored. (They were finally offered a Saturday morning worship opportunity.) The Paulsons left St. Paul’s and when we, a few years ago, went to their burials and memorials these were not held at St. Paul’s. Nevertheless the memory of them is forever etched into my memory and into my heart. They were critical in helping me (and Jane) get off to a wonderful start in our careers and ministry.

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