Are you Miss Betty Taylor?

By Kathryn DeLadurantey

Some beginnings are beautiful and full of life, while others are hard and painful. But where things end is where it counts.

A stillness filled the air so thick in Texas that it felt as though one could grab it. The sun shooting down its radiant light, which on any other day would have been a welcome sight. Farms all through Caldwell County, once made of green grass, crops, and children playing, were at present only a place for sandy footprints, dying crops, and hungry cattle, and so it was on one certain farm owned by the Taylor family.

When stillness comes, no rain follows, and day after day, the Taylor family waited for the skies to shed rain on their dry farm.

Mrs. Taylor, stepping into the front yard, saw her children in the distance, and without hesitation, called to them in a soft and motherly tone, “Littles gather round, come on in a circle now, it’s time to pray, come on let’s ask God to send us rain.”

And there on the dried-out farm, right in the middle of the yard, three children gathered with their mother, praying.

Betty, one of the Taylor children, lifted her head, and her heart stopped, in the distance, she could hear the creaks and rumbles of the farm windmill starting to turn. “It’s a miracle,” Betty squealed.

And before she could say another word sounds of deep “Plop, plop,” the first drops of rain fell into the cistern, and oh how this small group of the Taylor family laughed and cried praising the Lord.

Sometime later, far, far away, in a small town in New York, a young boy named Charles Allen, not a bit older than 18, ran down the familiar road, his heart racing and his stomach braced for what he might see as he crested the hill.

Filled with hesitation and yet overpowered by adrenaline, he ran to the top of the hill and gazed down. It was a moment of shock and dismay as if a sharp spear had gone through his heart. He was staring at a tragic accident.

Out of pure reaction, Charles turned around and immediately ran with all his might, to find his mother. Bursting into their small New York home, out of breath and with tears running down his face, he moaned in a loud voice, “Mom, he’s dead, he’s dead.”

The Allen family never quite recovered after the death of Mr. Allen on that day.

Soon after this tragedy, Mrs. Allen said in a very sure voice, “Charles, I signed you up for the Army. You’re leaving for San Antonio, Texas as soon as possible.”

While in San Antonio, Charles Allen grew to know Army life better. While in Taylorsville, Betty Taylor, lived a peaceful life on the farm working the fields and turning butter.

You see, friends are sometimes the means of us doing things we wouldn’t otherwise do.

And so it was when an Army buddy of Charles walked into his dorm, and in a curious voice, said, “Hey, what’s up Charley. You got anything going on this Saturday?” Charles, not so sure what this probing question entailed, said a tad reluctantly, “Naw, not really but you never know.” Charles’ friend bounced back in a jolly convincing voice, “Well, good thing, ‘cause you’re coming with me down to Luling for a double date.”

So that Saturday, right on time, Charles and his friend arrived at a small restaurant in Luling.

Charles pulled out the dining chair and slid quietly into his seat, waiting for his blind date to arrive. In the blink of an eye there she was bright, vibrant and pretty… Miss Betty Taylor.

That evening was fun and full of conversation and pleasant acquaintance.

And before Betty knew it, this quiet and tall Charles was standing at her door for their first date, just shaking like a leaf.

Happy days passed and time went on.

It was now Betty’s 17th birthday, filled with blue skies and warm summer air.

Charles arrived to pick her up for a birthday drive.

Betty hopped in the car, hoping for a small present from her new beau. The drive went on and Betty sat there just wondering when he would give her that birthday gift.

But with her mind all worried about what present he did or did not bring for her, she didn’t see that the entire car was shaking with Charles’s nerves.

Just up the bend, they pulled under the big oak tree by the church. Charles jumped out and kneeled in the soft summer grass and asked with more courage than a bull rider, “Betty Taylor, will you marry me?”

There, he gave the most cherished present she would ever receive… an engagement ring.

Oh, how Betty walked home that day with a smile so big, it could only make one who saw her smile in return.

This one moment in time, changed their lives forever and made each of them a better person for it. 

Betty went on to be a wife to Charles and a mother. She became a volunteer at the Lockhart Hospital, where she was vital to the recovery of many as she prayed for and encouraged patients.

Charles built many homes in Lockhart, raised cattle, and went on to serve in ministry. He and Betty traveled all over the U.S. and Canada, building churches and shining light in so many places.

Charles came across many in his path who were worried or fearful of the future. Though he wasn’t a wordy man, he would say a word or two, which would leave them calm and resolved to the future.

You see, how we will be used in our lives is not known to us. “Life is done minute by minute,” as Betty said, but what we do in those minutes defines what our future will be.

And so, although Charles’ upbringing was hard, his ending was one surrounded by his sons, grandsons, his wife, and a life well-lived serving and blessing so many and most of all his savior.

This story is told by Betty Taylor, a resident of the Golden Age Home Assisted Living.