Jenny's Angel

by D. L. Dennis

When it was pumpkin carving day, all the staff members would spend the day with the children carving the pumpkins. Mrs. Miller would instruct the children to put on some old play clothes. It was a messy day, but so much fun! Pumpkin seeds would pop up in the strangest places for several days after pumpkin carving day. The chatter and laughter could be heard all over the grounds. Mrs. Miller was not sure who was having the most fun – the staff or the children.

  Sometimes Jake and a couple of the other staff members could be seen carving pumpkins late at night after they got their work chores done. They never wanted any child to be without their very own pumpkin.

  Once all of the pumpkins were carved, they were lined up on the front porch of the orphanage with the tiniest ones in the front row and the bigger ones in the back row. On Halloween night, you could look down the lane and see the twinkling of the candle lights in the pumpkins and see the faces that had been carved in them. It was never known how many children were at the orphanage, but it was assumed that if you counted the pumpkins you would have a good idea of how many children there were. The only problem with that theory was no one could get close enough to count the pumpkins!

  The orphanage children never participated in traditional “trick or treating,” but they did not miss out on any “treats” or any of the fun. Mrs. Miller, along with the rest of the staff, made sure of that. They spent many days before Halloween making goodie bags filled with candy and cookies for each child. On Halloween day, no school was held in the afternoon. If the weather cooperated, the children played special games in the yard and wore masks that they had made in their art classes. Jake took them for a ride up and down the lane in the cart that he had filled with straw. The day ended with warm apple cider and more cookies in front of a roaring fire in the house after supper time. If anyone thought that the orphanage children were deprived, they were sadly mistaken.

  The church volunteers that worked in the pumpkin patch made sure that the kitchen workers at the orphanage had plenty of pumpkins to cook with. During the fall months, right up to the first of the year, there was always someone in the kitchen creating sweet treats – pumpkin pies, pumpkin bread, pumpkin bars, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin butter. There was no end to their creativity. Even those staff members that did not participate in food preparation enjoyed helping that time of the year. It was a joy to hear the peals of laughter coming from the kitchen when the baking was taking place. The minute you walked into the front door of the orphanage on the baking days, the aroma of spices and sugar floated through the air. Your mouth would begin watering just thinking about the goodies that would be setting out on the counters. And, most days were baking days as long as they had pumpkins!

  Jake loved to build things, so he built a stand on the side of the road coming into Calvary so that many of the sweet treats coming out of the orphanage’s kitchen could be sold to those who came to visit the pumpkin patch. Even the locals would drive out to visit the stand to take home a goodie or two.

  Jake had painted a large, wooden sign which he mounted on a stake driven into the ground in front of the road side stand – “Sugar Shack—Pumpkin Patch Goodies for Sale.” The orphanage cooks had quite a reputation for baking the best pumpkin pies for miles around. Everyone in the area looked forward to taking something home in addition to their pumpkins for Jack-O-Lanterns.

  After all the goodies were boxed up, Jake would get the wagon out again and transport the sweet treats to the stand. Each day, two of the older children were allowed to ride in the wagon and spend the morning or afternoon with a couple of the staff members at the stand as the sweet treats were sold. It was quite a treat to do this since they were excused from school for that time period. Mrs. Miller was happy to see the children participate and knew that this was a great learning experience for them. The children would take an inventory of what baked items they were loading in the wagon, keep track of what was sold, count out change to the customer when they sold an item, take an inventory of the left over items at the end of the day and count how much money they had made for the day. The children were learning how to operate a business while having fun. That was Mrs. Miller’s goal.

  When Jenny got old enough to participate, she was ecstatic. She loved being involved in every step of the process. She particularly liked riding in the wagon with Jake, arranging all the baked items in the stand and seeing all the visitors come to the stand to buy the goodies. Jenny was not bashful and would talk to anyone who stopped by. Whatever was being sold, Jenny would hand it to the customer, count out their change and reward them with a big dimpled smile. It did not take Jenny long to learn all the steps that were necessary to be able to be chosen to work at the stand. It was a fun day for her.

  Mrs. Miller was so thankful for the funds that were raised from the sale of the baked goodies. They had no problem putting the funds to good use as there was never an abundance of funds. Mrs. Miller allotted a certain amount of what was raised every year to be spent for a special project. Each year before the pumpkins were harvested and the baking started, the staff and the children would gather in their dining room and come up with ideas of what to do with the money raised at the Sugar Shack Pumpkin Patch Goodie stand. With Mrs. Miller’s help, their list would get narrowed down and then eventually one project would be chosen. That would get everyone excited about the baking and the selling. The more goodies they baked, the more they could sell, the more money they would have!

  Chapter 15

  JENNY’S CRUTCH

  By the time Jenny was ten years old, she looked like a china doll. She had blue eyes that sparkled when she smiled, golden hair that hung in ringlets and a peaches and cream complexion with big dimples, but Jenny was oblivious as to what a beautiful child she was. She was a good student, and even with her crooked foot, loved to run and play. She knew she could not do everything that the other children did that were not crippled, but it did not affect her disposition. She was always like the sunshine on a rainy day. She thumped along with the crooked foot, laughing and squealing along the way.

  Jenny was happiest when she was outside in the sunshine even on days when it snowed. She would giggle as the wind blew through her golden curls, delighted in the birds as they sat in the trees singing their songs and laughed as the snowflakes landed on her eyelashes. Her laugh was infectious, and Mrs. Miller wondered if she was every going to outgrow the squealing sound she made when she was happy and excited.

  Sometimes Jake would stand and watch the children playing outside, and he always looked for Jenny. He loved all the children and never showed any favoritism to Jenny, but she had stolen his heart when he first saw her in that basket. He knew that would never change. One day as she was slowly walking up the path to the porch, she winced as she walked on her crippled foot. Jake was so happy that Jenny had shoes and knew that they helped keep her foot warm and dry, but at times, he knew that her foot hurt. Jake had been thinking about making Jenny a crutch to use when her foot hurt, or at times when she needed a little extra support. When Jake saw Jenny that particular day, he was convinced that he needed to put his woodworking skills to use and make a crutch just for her.

  Behind the orphanage, there was a footbridge that crossed the Calvary River. Most of the time there was not much water in the river. If there was a big rain, the water would rise and rush along the banks, but that usually happened in the spring or fall when there were more big rains. The yard of the orphanage was surrounded by a tall wrought iron fence so the staff members did not have to be concerned about the children being near the river. There were times when the staff took the children across the footbridge to the other side of the river, but the children never went by themselves.

  On the other side of the footbridge, beyond the sandy beach along the river’s edge, there was an area that was cleared of trees and beyond that was a dense forest of trees. Someone had put a large swing set, a teeter totter, a slide and a sandbox in the cleared area that ran along the sandy beach. Jake and everyone else assumed that the playgrou
nd items were put there when the orphanage was being built. Close to the edge of the forest was a wooden bench.

  The footbridge that crossed the river was not very wide and was made of wooden planks with a railing on each side of the bridge. It was a very special treat for the children from the orphanage to make the trek across the footbridge and play at the playground but, of course, they never ventured into the dense forest of trees. They were given very stern lectures about not going into the forest of trees and knew they would be disciplined if they even ventured close.

  The older children made up stories about the forest of trees and creatures that lived in the forest. They told these stories to the younger children so most of the younger children did not venture very far off the playground when they were taken over to play. Most all the children enjoyed going over the footbridge to that side of the river though.

  When Jake had free time, he quite often spent it making things out of wood or whittling. He was convinced he could make Jenny a crutch. All he needed to do was to find the perfect limb on a tree, and to do that, he would have to go to the forest across the footbridge. Jake took off late one afternoon and roamed around in the woods looking for the type of tree from which he could cut a branch to make a crutch. He had decided that the crutch should be made from a branch from a Hickory tree. It took Jake a couple of hours, but he finally found the perfect tree and the perfect branch. Whatever he made for Jenny had to be perfect! He had not brought a saw with him so he tied his red handkerchief around the branch. He was certain he could find the tree again. He would just have to make another trip into the woods with his saw. He was determined to make that crutch for Jenny.

  Jake did not want anyone to know what he was up to so on his next day off, he disappeared into the woods again, this time with his saw. It did not take him long to find the Hickory tree with his red handkerchief tied onto it. He quickly sawed it off. It was an easy job as it would not take a very big limb to make a little crutch.

  For the next several days, Jake spent all of his spare time in the shed behind the orphanage working on the crutch. He spent many hours using the wood rasp to change the limb into a crutch, and then, more hours sanding it down. The more it looked like a crutch, the more excited Jake got about making it. He was just sure that the little crutch would help Jenny’s foot from getting as sore. He did not like to see Jenny in any discomfort.

  Finally, the little crutch was shaped and sanded smooth. It was time to take it to Jenny. He had polished the wood, stained it and put a rubber cap on the end. But first Jake had to show Mrs. Miller what he had done and get her permission to give it to Jenny. He was not sure how she was going to react and was a little hesitant in approaching her. Jake wanted to make sure that Mrs. Miller was in her office when he approached her. He did not want anyone else around in case she was not happy at what he had done. He knew that she always went there after the supper hour. As soon as she headed that direction one evening, he went to his workshop and picked up the crutch. He felt his heart beating fast as he knocked on her door.

  Mrs. Miller was astounded when she saw the crutch. It was a beautifully crafted little crutch. Jake had even padded the top of it so it would be soft under Jenny’s arm. Mrs. Miller told Jake that the next morning after breakfast she would call Jenny into her office, and he could give the crutch to her. Jake was so relieved that Mrs. Miller was as excited as he was about Jenny having the crutch.

  When Jenny went to the dining room the next morning, she was told that she was to go to Mrs. Miller’s office after breakfast. Jenny’s stomach did flip flops. She wondered if she was in trouble. No one ever got called to Mrs. Miller’s office unless he or she was in trouble. Jenny could hardly eat her oatmeal for thinking about why she had to go to Mrs. Miller’s office. When the other children headed to the school rooms, Jenny dawdled as long as she could and then hesitantly walked down the hall to Mrs. Miller’s office. She was not very anxious to get there and wondered what was going to happen. Jake could hear the slow dragging sound of Jenny’s foot so he knew she was on her way. Jake opened the door just as Jenny got to it.

  Jenny looked up at Jake with a surprised look in her big blue eyes and whispered, “Mr. Jake, what are you doing here? Miss Elizabeth told me I was to go to Mrs. Miller’s office after breakfast. Am I in trouble?”

  Mrs. Miller stood up from behind her desk and smiled at Jenny as she said, “No, Jenny. You are not in trouble. Come on in. Mr. Jake has made something for you, and he wants to show it to you.”

  As Jenny came through the door Jake stepped behind her and held the crutch to his back so she would not see it. When Jenny looked around, Jake brought the crutch around so Jenny could see it. All she could do was stare at the crutch Jake was holding. Jake held the crutch out to Jenny and said, “Jenny, sometimes I know your foot hurts after you have run and played, and I thought maybe this might help.”

  Jenny did not make a move. She just stared at the crutch. Thoughts scrambled through Jake’s mind – she does not like the crutch; she does not want to use a crutch; I have hurt her feelings. Now what do I say? Mrs. Miller was baffled at Jenny’s reaction also.

  All of a sudden, Jenny’s face broke out into the most beautiful dimpled smile and her blue eyes sparkled. Out came one of her famous squeals. Relief washed over Jake’s face. When Jenny squealed, Mrs. Miller and Jake knew that she was a happy little girl. She held out her hands for the crutch.

  “Oh, Mr. Jake, you made a crutch for me? How did you know what size to make it?”

  “Well, Jenny, I had to guess, so why don’t you try it to see if it fits.”

  Jenny had never used a crutch, so at first, she was somewhat awkward, but it did not take long for her to master the use of it. She walked in circles around Mrs. Miller’s desk and around Jake. Jake told her that she did not have to use it all the time, but when her foot was hurting, it might help. When Jenny let out one of her delightful laughs along with another squeal, Mrs. Miller and Jake knew that she would probably be taking her crutch with her everywhere, even if she did not use it.

  Chapter 16

  THE GARDEN

  On one end of the orphanage grounds, there was a large garden plot and a stand of fruit trees. Not only did the fruit trees and garden produce an abundance of fruit and vegetables for the orphanage children to have at their meals, but it also served as a place for learning and another way to raise funds. Mrs. Miller was a strong believer in using the garden plot and fruit trees as a place for learning. The children learned how vegetables were grown and how the trees blossomed and produced fruit. In addition to having fresh vegetables and fruit fixed a multitude of ways, the garden also saved the orphanage money by not having to purchase those items. Those who tended to the garden tried to grow enough produce to put in the cellar for the winter months, or for the kitchen staff to can.

  Some of the children loved to work in the garden, but some were not necessarily fond of eating the vegetables they helped produce! Mrs. Miller had a rule that they had to take at least one bite of whatever was being served. If they did not like it, they did not have to eat any more. She was a wise woman and knew that as the children grew into adulthood, they would learn to like many things that as a child, they would turn their noses up at. Mrs. Miller wanted meal time to be a happy time for the children so she did not press the issue of eating foods they did not like. Dr. Carlson always declared the children amazingly healthy and that was Mrs. Miller’s goal.

  All the children gathered in the dining room at the same time to have their meals together. When they heard the dinner bell, they knew it was meal time. The dining room was filled with round tables covered with tablecloths made of bright colored oil cloth. There were eight chairs around each table. Lined up against the wall at one end were a few high chairs for the babies and toddlers. Most of the time, the walls were decorated with art work made in the art classes.

  Three times a year, a name card would be placed at each one of the chairs with a child’s name on it. The childre
n were always excited to see who they were going to sit with for that four month period of time. There would be a mix of older children and younger children sitting at each table. Mrs. Miller felt that this was one way to encourage the children to make friends of all ages and not always be with one small group.

  At each meal, large bowls of food were set on the tables along with pitchers of milk and water. The older children were expected to help the younger children fill their plates, cut up their meat, pour their drink, butter their bread and be a good example with their manners. This gave the children a feeling of “family.” There were always several staff members in the dining room to make sure that there was harmony at the table. Squabbles did not happen often, but just like in any family, they did happen.

  Mrs. Miller never let an opportunity pass by where she could turn whatever they were doing into a learning session, and meal time was one of those opportunities. She felt that mealtime was an opportune time to teach them responsibility in caring for the smaller ones and how to cooperate with one another. Jenny loved to have the little ones sit at her table. She would act like a “little mother” to as many as would let her. Sometimes she would fuss over them a little too much.

  When there were babies in the orphanage, Mrs. Miller encouraged the caretakers of the babies and the younger children who could not sit at the table and feed themselves to come to the dining room and feed them in their high chairs at one of the tables. She wanted everybody to feel like they were a part of the family, even the little ones.

  Chapter 17

  THE “BIGS” & THE “LITTLES”

  If there was no one at Jenny’s table that needed, or wanted her help, she would often gobble her food down and scurry over to where one of the babies were being fed. There was no end to Jenny’s love for her “brothers and sisters.” Jenny made up the name of “Bigs and Littles” to describe the other children, and it was not long before even the staff members would refer to the children in those terms. Just exactly at what age someone was no longer a “Little” and became one of the “Bigs” no one ever knew for sure.