Dawne was born on March 5, 1947. She was precocious from the beginning. She had blonde, curly hair and blue eyes, (actually one eye was half green and half blue, while the other was entirely blue.) The Grenzes had light hair. She was quite independent, walking to the store to do errands at age 5, for her mother. She was a very good girl, helping her mother do housework. But I do remember crying when she was spanked for that one misdeed. She’d found a five-dollar bill. The event was reconstructed based on the evidence. She’d shared the money with friends at the neighborhood grocery. One of the girl’s mothers had called, wondering why Dawne had given her daughter some money. Most of the money was recovered but the spanking was dutifully delivered.

Still I believe she was the best of us children - she was the first of us to be saved. She’d gone to the Evangelical Church’s revival meetings with a friend. And she very bravely and proudly went forward when “the Invitation” was given. She was saved and reported the event excitedly to us all. Did this wipe from memory the distress an earlier action had caused? Maybe.

I still remembered crying so spontaneously - her pain was my pain. Not often since then have I experienced such natural, automatic empathy. Why did that sort of spontaneity die?

I’ll let her tell the rest of the story.