Molly is One Tough Cookie

I’ve sat and watched a whole lot of baseball games in the past 13 years, with both of my boys playing on numerous teams. But one game in particular stands out from the rest – the day I met Mary Rose Naab, better known as “Molly.”

About a month ago, I sat next to this older lady wearing a pink baseball cap during a game at Billericay Ballpark in Fishers. She came to watch her grandson, Joel Naab, who is on the Hamilton Southeastern 13U Travel Team with my son, Justin.

We started talking, and I quickly realized that she wasn’t just any ordinary 84-year-old lady. Instead, her words of wisdom made her an incredibly strong, witty, inspiring character, from whom I couldn’t wait to hear her next utterance.

Molly grew up working on a farm in Evansville with her six brothers (four younger and two older). Together they would get up at 4:30 a.m., milk seven cows, feed them (along with the pigs, chickens, ducks, and turkeys), eat breakfast and then walk two and one-half miles to school. (Many of us have trouble finding time to walk one mile on the treadmill.)

After school, she would do more chores until dinner, clean up, then study until bedtime. As kids, she and her brothers never had time to do anything for themselves, such as playing organized sports, or taking dance or piano lessons. They would can fruits and vegetables in the summer and can beef and pork in the winter, in addition to making butter, selling eggs and produce. Her family owned an orchard, made their own wine and dried apples by laying them out on the roof in the hot sun.

“Whatever the boys did, I did,” says Molly of her six brothers. (No wonder she is so tough!) They would walk on top of fences and make baseballs out of twine string from feed sacks.

And that’s where the conversation ended at the conclusion of our baseball game. But before saying “goodbye,” Molly kindly offered me five yellow squash seeds. I was so grateful for the seeds and planted them in my back yard that night. I have always wanted to learn how to grow a vegetable garden but never had the confidence.

I couldn’t wait until the next baseball game… so I could sit next to Molly and learn more about gardening and about her life.

At the next ballgame, Molly continued her story: On Saturday nights, her brothers would escort her to the dance hall, which was their main form of entertainment. Incidentally, she met her husband, Elmer, at a dance in Evansville and got married at age 21. She and Elmer moved to Vincennes, Ind., rented a farm and eventually had three boys. With two farms 50 miles apart (one in Evansville and one in Vincennes), they had plenty of work to do.

They lived on a “Pea Ranch,” a name given by the family because they had so many peas (a whole acre) that they couldn’t sell them. They “dressed” 300 chickens every other day and butchered hogs in the wintertime. Also, they would pick vegetables, clean them up, arrange them in baskets and sell them in the market in Evansville.

Suddenly, in November of 1963, Molly faced her biggest life changing moment. Her husband, Elmer, had a terrible, tragic tractor accident and died on their Vincennes farm during harvest time. He left her to raise three boys all by herself (ages, 7, 10 and 17). She had never worked outside farm life before. So Molly went back to school to get her G.E.D. and eventually found a job with the Indiana Department of Transportation, where she worked for 25 years. She and her boys tried to maintain both farms for three years after Elmer’s death but eventually decided to get out of farming altogether.

Listening to Molly laugh after everything she says, I am in awe of her easy-going, free-spirited yet wonderful outlook on life. I am mesmerized by her words in much the same way as Kathy Bates is in the movie Fried Green Tomatoes when she listens to the stories of the elderly lady (Jessica Tandy) in the nursing home to whom she becomes so attached and inspired. I, too, feel somehow I will become a stronger person from knowing Molly.

Molly has always given of herself to others. For years, she prepared and served meals at the Knights of Columbus. She volunteered at the Newman Center at the University of Vincennes, where she painted the entire interior of a three-story house. It was also there that she acquired the nickname “Molly.”

The priest there, Father Lutz, was mighty thankful for her services but could never remember her name (Her real name is Mary Rose). Getting frustrated that he didn’t know her name, she finally asked him one day, “Why can’t you remember my name?” He responded, “I don’t know, but you look like a Molly anyway.” From that point on, her nickname has always been Molly.

Over the years, Molly has endured the loss of four brothers to cancer and one to an automobile accident. However, one brother is still alive today, and they remain very close.

Molly still holds her head up high even after facing six serious surgeries. Most recently, in March of 2007, she found a lump in her neck which proved to be Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, a non-aggressive cancer. She has had five rounds of chemotherapy with one more to go.

“She comes home after her chemo treatment without ever feeling sick and mows her entire lawn. Then she mops all her floors by getting down on her hands and knees,” says her youngest son, Mark Naab, better known as “Peanut.” He beams with pride as he stands behind his mom, with his hands on her shoulders while they watch the game.

Nothing seems to get Molly down. She always wears a genuine smile. The nurses at her doctor’s office are stunned by her positive attitude and perpetual strength. They constantly refer to her as “one tough cookie.”

Molly remains incredibly independent as she drives to and from Florida by herself each November, staying until March. She visits with Larry, her eldest son. Her other two boys, Roger and Mark (Peanut), live here in Indy. She is close to her entire family and has seven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Along with gardening, her hobbies include knitting and crocheting, and she has an old player piano that she plays when guests are over.

“When my nieces come to see me, we play on the piano, and we party,” exclaims Molly with a chuckle, adding, “I’ve had a great life. I really have.”

She would never want anyone to feel sorry for her. To me, she seems to have been through a whole lot in her life, and yet there are still so many stories I haven’t heard. I’m not so sure I could handle half of the turbulent fate she has encountered.

I respect her and feel honored to have gotten to know her in my life. And, thanks to Molly, I now have yellow squash growing in my garden! I will always admire Molly, for she truly is one tough cookie.

Fighting The Good Fight

I have never had the misfortune of having to send an email like this, so bear with me.

Last year my best friend of @ 18 years Brett Hughes was diagnosed with Melanoma at the age of 34 years. This is skin cancer and is one of the worst forms of cancer there is. The doctors removed tumors and lymph nodes and after further testing it was believed to have been in remission. After several months Brett noticed a lump forming on his right shoulder. Brett works as a carpenter and could not afford to carry medical benefits. Needless to say it was several months before he heard of a program through Wishard Hospital that offers benefits for people who can’t afford benefits. He qualified for this program on June 22, 2007. The following Monday he went to get, what was now 2 lumps, checked out. The next day he received the call. Brett’s cancer has reached stage 4, which is the final stage. He has multiple tumors throughout his entire body. The doctors have given him 4 months to 1 year to live. He is the only source of income for his family. He has always been the rock in his family and they will be lost without him. He also currently supports his handicapped mother who lives with him. Brett went back to work 3 weeks after his first surgery regardless of the pain and has worked through the pain all the way up to his hospital visit. He is one of the greatest men I have ever known. I will be there with him until the end, but my limited resources can’t hope to meet the financial needs that this family will face. They risk losing their house and everything Brett has worked so hard to achieve.

The feeling of helplessness has overcome me. So I ask you now for help. If your receiving this letter there is a reason. You can make a difference. This man is fighting for his life and the only thing he can think about is what will happen to his family. If each of us does what we can maybe we can ease the burden that is already enormous for this family. If there is any way you can help financially or in prayer, or any other way, please reply to this email. My hope is that you will search your heart. If you have ever been blessed in your life this is your chance to give back!

Brett is my brother and I love him very much. He is loyal, forgiving and compassionate for other people. He stands for what’s right and good. If ever there was a person who deserved our help, it’s Brett. If there is anything I can do for you in return, consider it done. I know that you will do the right thing. Rest assured we will be fighting this to the end!

If there is any additional information you will need to make a donation or for any reason, please contact me A.S.A.P. Help may be offered directly or through me. If you would like to send something directly to the family, let me know and I will give you the address.

We will be setting up a bank account for the Hughes Family Fund in the near future for those of you who do not feel comfortable donating to an individual. Contact me and I will get you the info you need.

Please forward this to as many people as you can.

Best hopes and regards,

Timothy G. Messersmith II

Email address – hughesfamilyfund@yahoo.com

Mural Artist Cassandra Domer Paints Dreams to Wake Up Walls (Video)

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/dTyL1YSuPVI" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]Have you ever looked at a tasteful but boring neutral wall in your home or office and wondered how you could add some life to your decor?

Many home and business owners are finding murals can create ambiance in a room that was previously quite unremarkable. And if you’re not artistically gifted yourself, you may want to turn to the talents of Fishers artist Cassandra Domer.

Domer recently finished a mural in the employee breakroom at the 96th Street Wal-Mart, and she’s working on another for the Fishers Freedom Festival now. The Wal-Mart mural features a diverse group of employees above a scene of old town Fishers, with the words: “Our people make the difference.”

“Everyone likes it; it’s definitely a conversation piece,” said Cynthia Jude, personnel manager for the store.
She said employees like to guess who the pictured associates are. Domer took photos of employees to use as models for her drawing, but the end product was not supposed to feature specific store associates. Still, the mural has definitely livened up the formerly boring room.

“We weren’t actually looking to do a mural, but we wanted to upgrade our breakroom and make it unique,” Jude explains.

And that’s what murals do for an area. They add character to a space and often bring a bit of fantasy to life as well. That was especially the case for a little girl in West Clay whose father, Michael Rypel, commissioned Domer to transform his daughter’s room into Snow White’s cottage.

Domer painted all four walls—even covering the closet door with dwarves – and finished off the illusion by hanging a real swing from the “branch” of a large, painted tree. Now the Rypels are moving to Geist, so little Natalie will get another fantasy land painted in her new room, thanks to Domer.

When she’s starting a new project, Domer says she listens to the customer’s vision and then tries to “pluck it from their mind just the way they see it and then enhance it.” Over the years, Domer has done dozens of murals and set designs for theatrical productions both locally and in Ohio, as well as other parts of the country.

“I’m a Buckeye wrapped in Hoosier,” says Domer, who grew up in Georgetown, Ohio. Her mother had a theatre background, and her father, a doctor, was a hobby artist. She fondly recalls times when her dad would take her and her brother out to their woods, hand them oil paints and a canvas and ask them to paint what they saw.

“We’d just play games with art and design,” she said.

That exposure to art at an early age led her to study fine art in college, where a favored professor advised her to have curiosity and “learn everything.”

To that end, Domer has acquired quite a diverse background, with jobs ranging from developing flashcards for training Motorola employees to working at veterinary clinics. (The love of her life right now is a rat terrier named Max). She even helped her brother start the first EMT service in Georgetown, where he served as Lt. Sheriff.
“I’m living up to what my teacher said to do,” she jokes.

Her signature “Earthscapes,” which feature two differing perspectives of a seasonal landscape, led to an opportunity to create posters promoting Earth Day. Through her Earth Day connections, she also landed a job teaching colored pencil at the Indianapolis Art Center in Broadripple.

Domer spends much of her time now working in her studio, which takes up the majority of her Sunblest apartment. In addition to murals, Domer also does portraits and illustration. She’s currently working with atGeist.com Publisher Tom Britt on a children’s coloring book featuring “Goldsmith” the rooster, a character she developed to serve as mascot for the book, which highlights the history of Geist.

“The diversity keeps it interesting all the time,” Domer says of her work.

In the near future, she hopes to expand her mural business by launching a website selling custom murals painted onto canvas, which could be shipped to customers and hung directly on the wall like wallpaper or hung with a curtain rod and rings.

Domer especially enjoys mixing colors and creating depth through a technique called “underpainting.”
“You can actually make it look like you could walk into it and be a part of the dream,” she explains.
If you’re ready to discover the potential dream waiting for your wall, call Domer at 598-9814 or email cassandradomer@yahoo.com.

Teenage Cheerleader Coaches, Mentors and Nurtures Local Kids (video)

Heather Harmon is a bit young to be a coach.

And that’s exactly what the Hamilton Southeastern sophomore told i9 Sports Owner Eric Rhiver when he asked her to coach cheerleading this spring.

”’I’m only 16; Are you sure you want me?’” she recalls telling Rhiver. “He said, ‘I know you can do it,’ and I said, ‘OK.’”

Now Harmon is among the most popular coaches at i9. She leads five girls – ages 7 to 12 – in cheering for flag football teams every Saturday at Horizon Christian School. The girls just love Coach Heather, Rhiver said. He had so much confidence in the young teen because she’s not the typical “cheerleader type.” Rhiver wanted someone who would be a good role model for the aspiring cheerleaders and who worked well with children.

[kml_flashembed movie="http://youtube.com/v/eOvTa4giruY" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]Heather, who was a cheerleader for the Royals’ JV girls basketball team this year, fit that ideal.

“People instantly like her,” Rhiver said. “She’s just a very sweet young lady.”

Heather has a passion for working with kids. During the school year, she wakes up well before sunrise to lead Campus Life groups for students at Hamilton Southeastern and Fishers Junior High schools. The meetings start at 6:30 a.m. – an hour before school – and include donuts, games and small group discussions about issues such as peer pressure and living a Christian life. Heather meets with other Campus Life volunteers and staff members weekly to plan activities for the 40-50 kids who show up at each school every week.

“I’m a very kid-oriented person. I come from a big family,” said Heather, who is one of seven children, ages 7 to 19.
As school winds down for the summer, Heather will still be working with children. She’s trying to raise $1,300 to go on a mission trip with Northeast Community Church to Jamaica, where she plans to do light construction work at an orphanage. She went to the same location last summer, and she can’t wait to visit the children who captured her heart.

“For two days, I worked with kids who don’t have a family,” Heather recalls. “They would ask me, ‘When you go home, do you have a mom?’”

In fact, Heather does have a mom who is very proud of her daughter’s desire to help others.

“To be almost 17 years old, I’m pretty proud of her,” said Gina Fornefeld of Brookston Place. “I know she makes the right choices.”

Gina says she knew Heather was special when she fell 30 feet from a third-floor apartment balcony at age 4 and immediately got up to find her mother.

“She said, ‘Don’t worry, Mom, I’m OK; an angel caught me,” Gina recalls. The family wasn’t going to church at the time and didn’t talk about angels. Although Heather broke both arms, there were no life-threatening injuries from the terrible fall.

Rhiver is a friend of Heather’s father, Jon Harmon, and has had many opportunities over the years to witness how much Heather cares for kids – whether it be her own siblings or children she’s never met before. He’s never regretted hiring a 16-year-old coach. In fact, Heather will be heading up an i9 Sports cheerleading camp this summer at Sahm Park the week of July 16-20.

“The girls make it so much fun,” Heather said. “They’re willing to do anything. They’re all enthusiastic and excited to be there.”

Clearly, Heather Harmon is, too!

Photos and video by Brenda Staples, Brenda@atGeist.com.

Girl Scouts Show Support for US Troops – We Can, Too

More than 25 Fishers area Girl Scout troops recently collected donations from community residents to purchase cookies exclusively for US soldiers serving overseas. With the help of a local business, Metro Plastics, more than 1,000 boxes of Girl Scout cookies are being shipped to troops fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Carol Krol, troop leader of Girl Scout Junior Troop No. 953, works for Metro Plastics and arranged for the company to pay the postage on hundreds of boxes being sent directly to individual service men and women who will distribute them among their units.

“We had a list of over 20 names and addresses of soldiers and sent each of them 20 to 22 boxes of cookies,” Krol explained. “Our company employees helped prepare the boxes for shipment, and I estimate we spent around $400 in postage.”

Metro Plastics also sent more than 100 boxes to a military servicemen outreach organization based in New Hampshire, for distribution to their overseas contacts. “A few late-coming donations are still being collected which we will drive over to Wright-Patterson AFB where they will be included in ‘CARE’ packages for other soldiers,” adds Mrs. Krol.

Joyce Crowder is the mother of a US Marine who recently returned from Iraq. Along with her husband, Terry, she founded USMCFamilies.com and is one of the original founders of the Marine Parent Support Group, a local support group for parents of Marines. This year, her organization worked with Brownie Troop No. 1916 for a second time and was able to send more than 200 boxes of Girl Scout cookies to Marines overseas.

“The young girls seem to get a sense of satisfaction by showing support for the troops in this way,” Mrs. Crowder said.

Obviously, many adults find it rewarding to make such thoughtful gestures for the soldiers as well. Fishers residents handed over more than $4,000 to Girl Scouts to buy the cookies. Crowder points out that since she founded her organization, she has been contacted by countless people seeking advice on ways they can do more than just slap a yellow ribbon magnet on their car.

“Because our group includes family members of deployed Marines, we know exactly what items they are requesting, and we have the names and addresses where they can be sent,” she said.

Further evidence of Americans’ desire to support the troops was recently and inadvertently discovered by a local online gourmet coffee retailer, Javacoffeecafe.com. Thomas Crenshaw, co-owner of the company, became curious when he noticed an increase in orders being shipped to Afghanistan. He contacted the addressee of one of the shipments and learned that their product is popular with the soldiers because it is a rare but simple pleasure that ships well to remote regions.

“Apparently, the soldiers have been requesting coffee from family back home, so people stateside have been ordering it from us to be shipped directly overseas,” Crenshaw said. “Unlike other online coffee sellers, we do not have a problem shipping to APO and FPO addresses, and I guess that has made us popular.”

Anyone interested in learning more about how they can do something special to benefit the soldiers can email the Marine Parent Support Group at . In addition, the public is invited to attend the group’s Third Annual Support the Troops Rally on August 26 downtown at the Indiana War Memorial from 1 to 3 p.m. There will be live music and an appearance by the Patriot Guard Riders.