Everyone has unique experiences in life. Each person has a story to tell and words of wisdom that can be shared with others. With that in mind, we’d like to introduce you to some of the wonderful people who live here at CHCC. Here is a recent Q&A session we did with Mary K.
Have you lived in other places besides Lynden?
Yes. I lived in Santa Rosa, California, shortly after I was married, and I lived in Mesa, Arizona, for a short while, but Lynden is my home. I was born here, and I know the people here.
What industry did you retire from?
I retired from teaching school, but I still teach people every day of my life, and they teach me, too. Once a teacher, always a teacher. I like to talk to the staff about spiritual things because I am a Christian and study the Bible and pray daily. I have interesting conversations with the staff. One staff member recently taught me to not judge anyone based on the color of their skin but to accept everyone. She made the point that maybe Jesus had a different skin color than I do because he was Middle Eastern. It really got me thinking!
What was your favorite thing about the work you did?
I taught second, fifth and sixth grade at Sumas Elementary, and then I taught second grade and high school home economics at Lynden Christian. My favorite part was passing the Word of God into people’s minds.
If you could have any type of food, what would it be?
Bacon-wrapped prawns! I am good friends with the owners of El Ranchito restaurant here in Lynden; my husband and I used to eat there all the time before he passed away. We became like grandparents to them because their family mostly lives in Mexico. We went to all their baptisms, weddings and events. They called my husband Tequila and me Maria. Sometimes they surprise me and deliver bacon-wrapped prawns.
What is one thing that you have been most proud of in your life?
That would be having a beautiful son who gave me four beautiful grandchildren.
What is one thing you did or experienced that was scary?
Not too much is scary, because anytime I’m scared, I pray and that takes care of it. It really helps to have Pastor Jim here. He is very good spiritual help.
What was your favorite decade to live in, and why?
I liked the time when I was a teacher. During that time period, it seemed like people were living more in tune with what the Bible taught. I also had lots of fun during that time of life with my family. I had eight siblings and we got together for holidays. We had a food committee and would play games and had lots of fun traditions with the whole family. On Christmas we always did a gift exchange and on New Year’s Eve we all dressed in costume for the party.
What is one life lesson that you learned from your parents?
They had us go to Bible class, church and catechism regularly. That taught me to stick to the Lord. Once that’s established, you have nothing to worry about.
What is one piece of advice that you would give a 16-year-old person today?
Stay with the Lord and don’t drift away. Stick with what you learned from your parents.
What is one thing most people don’t know about you, but you wish they did?
A few things come to mind. First, my father was the first chairman of the board of Christian Health Care Center! To my knowledge, he was also the first person to start a tulip farming business in Lynden.
In the late 1920s, my father’s family was living in Holland, and they had heard that Lynden had similar weather and soil to that of Holland. His family asked him to go to Lynden and see if it would be a good place to plant tulips, irises and daffodils. He hopped on an ocean liner and came to Lynden and found that the soil and land were, in fact, ideal for bulbs, so he went back to Holland and reported to the family.
He came back in the 1930s and stayed in a Dutch boarding house in Everett that was run by my mother’s family. This is where my parents met and fell in love. They bought some land around Lynden and started planting bulbs.
When I was 11 years old, I started working in the bulb fields with the crew, and I loved it. We would help dig, clean, grade and sort bulbs. I remember that we would throw clods of dirt at each other from across the field. I got a small amount of money per hour, but I didn’t care; I thought I had the world by the tail!
The large bulbs from my family’s farm got shipped to Holland in wooden boxes made by my dad’s workers. He later became a traveling bulb salesman around the U.S. and Canada and sent bulbs around the world. He made a good living; we had a good life.
Lastly, I met my husband on a hayride. It was during a blizzard and I was a senior in high school.
You’ve lived through other historical events — wars and recessions and such. What do you think of the pandemic that we’re living through now?
I don’t know what to think about it, but I pray every night for America and for Christian Health Care Center.
What is one thing that you like about living at CHCC?
Oh, the fun we have! I like the staff; we have wonderful staff! I like the CNAs, and the head cook, Dave, is great too. I can speak and understand Dutch and love to speak with people here who also know how to. The CEO, Patrick, is a fun and decent guy. I like the different principles we have here to keep good order in this place; the staff really want to do the right thing here. It is a good, cheerful and ULTRA clean place to live in!