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Show Sunday. May 13. 2007 DAILY HERALD At Gramma Orphanage Continued from Al Continued from Al Mather's Day. with her and she fell asleep," Schmidt said. . That girl, Anne Marie Sun Joo Allred of Highland, is now in her 40s andreturned to the . orphanage she came from for the first time last year. On Saturday, Allred and her family held a yard salebake sale to wrap up five months of fundraising that has brought in more than $14,000 to benefit the orphanage and two others. " The money win go to provide school materials, bedding, washers and dryers, refrigerators, microwaves and ' baby supplies to three South Korean orphanages, includWon, which ing Haeng-bohouses ISO disabled orphans in Kwangju, South Korea, where Allred lived her first two years of life. Though $14,000 may seem like a lot, Allred said her goal was $30,000. The money is needed because orphanages in South Korea receive no government support and must be entirely privately funded, she said. After the long list of basic needs has been met, she hopes to have enough to buy a large indoor playset for one of the orphanages. Friends and family from all over the West and even Hawaii have given generously to the cause, as have local businesses, she said. One donor gave $2,500. Schmidt, who now lives in West Jordan, came to Saturday's yard sale. He said he remembers Allred as a "beautiful child" who was shy around men, including him. Since leaving the child with her adoptive parents in Hawaii, Schmidt and Allred were reunited about nine years ago and have become friends. Saturday's event was also Listen long enough, my mother once told me, and you can find lessons in them all People everywhere tell stories over drinks or meals. With my grandmother, they're often told over a cup of instant coffee while sitting at her kitchen table. It's a small room in her mobile home in a sleepy, small Northern California town. Here, my grand-mothhas taken me back in time. I never knew her young. In my memory, she has always been "Gramma" with her deep wrinkles and worn hands. But when she talks about her life, there is youthful understanding. You can hear it in her story about earrings: Coming of age during the Great Depression, she said women didn't pierce their ears. That is, not if you wanted to be respectable. Only more "worldly women" did that, she said. It was the same, she says, with women wearing pants to work.f And later jeans. You just didn't,' But over time, she watched as new generations broke down the stigmas. First, her daughter got her ears pierced. Then her grand- v v k 1 getting them. Her veiled advice: Will you regret it? Years later, after I took her advice and waited, my grandmother was one of the first to inspect the artwork. "Well, let's see what all the fuss is about," she said. x lvaiMa fi (i t daughter. Even then, my grandmother waited. She waited until she retired. She no longer had to work, no longer had to conform to a workplace dress code, she said. "I waited until I didn't see a reason not to," she said. It took me awhile to understand it wasn't really a story about earrings. She was offering advice to a teenager debating whether to get a tattoo because all her friends were ! 1 (p h A w ej JJ a Wmfl 1 'This is for the orphanage my mom came from and everything they did is a she i part of the reason I am is here today, and here today." Alyse Allred daughter of Anne Marie Allred, who was adopted from Korea a family affair for Allred. Her daughter; Alyse, organized the event, asking four IDS Church wards to donate items for the yard sale, which raised $1,165. A patron pledged another $1,000 donation, to be delivered on Monday. All of the fundraising has been done under the umbrella of A Child's Hope Foundation. "We can say it's the best; we've been able to do, and that is a great feeling," Alyse said "This is for the orphanage my mom came from and everything they did is a part of the reason she is here to day, and I ant here today. And besides, it's just good to be able to do something for other people, to give back." Anne Marie Allred will pay her own way to South Korea on June 19, where she will visit each of the three orphanages again to oversee delivery of the items. She will be in South Korea for six days, and upon returning to the United States, plans to retire from the fundraising business. e en"This is a deavor," she said when asked if her success would prompt her to raise more money later. "I'm a mother of five. I need to focus on my family." ' one-tim- Soldiers t ; .: ;s Lucille Strohlein peddles her three-wheel- RICH PEDRONCELUAssociated Press bicyde around the mobile home community in Colusa, Calif. Over the years, Strohlein passed along words of wisdom through the stories she told her granddaughter, Associated Press writer Chelsea Carter. ficial said. The attack was the latest in a series of targeted strikes Continued from' Al against American soldiers in recent weeks that have genr for their safe return." death A U.S. military source famil- erated high single-datolls. On April 23, twin suicide iar with the manhunt said the convoy was struck truck bombings killed nine soldiers and injured 20 at a rewith a roadside bomb, then mote combat outpost in Diyala was apparently ambushed by province. On May 6, a roadv gunmea Some of the soldiers side bomb stuck a convoy in had been shot. Flames consumed the vehicles, but it was Diyala, killing six soldiers and unclear whether the explosion ' a Russian journalist? among caused the fire or if it had been eight U.S. soldiers killed that set later. day. j The casualties underscore , s "It was a planned, coordinated attack," the source said the, growing vulnerability or on condition of anonjity be- U.S. troops in Iraq as they cause he was not authorized increasingly live in and pa- to speak to reporters.! trol hostile terrain under a f It was unclear whether the new counterinsurgency plan intended to wrest control of interpreter was among those killed or missing, said Lt. Col. areas from insurgents. But? Christopher Garver, a military the offensive has also multi; plied the risks for U.S. troops spokesman. Nor was it clear whether the interpreter was as their enemies use their a soldier or a civilian, Garver knowledge of the land and added. All of the soldiers were sophisticated guerrilla tactics to target them. assigned to the U.S. Army's Third Infantry Division. Saturday's attack occurred in the same region as one in Several hours after the June in which insurgents amattack, the military had bushed three soldiers manning identified only one of the slain soldiers, a U.S. military a vehicle checkpoint in Yusufi-yaofficial said on condition of Spec. David Babineau, 25, died in the initial attack, and anonymity because he was also not authorized to speak Pfc. Kristian Meriehaca, 23, to journalists. This suggested and Pfc. Thomas L Tucker, 25, were abducted. Their bodies, that the corpses may have been difficult to recognize. showing signs of brutal torture, were found after a man"Something pretty horrible hunt involving 8,000 troops. happened last night," the of y two-vehic- grandmother has seen the world change from carriages to cars, from ice boxes to refrigerators, from gas stoves to microwave ovens. She marvels at the speed of computers, space travel and those "talking cars," as she calls them, that announce when a door is open or when ' the lights are on. "Can you believe that?" she says about some new technological marvel. But the more things change, the more they seem to stay the same at my grandmother's, place. The carpet has been replaced several times. So has some" of the furniture. But the feel that thing that makes it home, is still there. As a journalist, bouncing from one location to another, home is sometimes an elusive place for me. My grandmother has watched me make many moves, and for years she and my grandfather followed my g movements and my story assignments on maps. She followed them until she couldn't see anymore: Macular degeneration has now taken most of her eyesight. My; far-flun- like it too. And she put it in the same place as the old one. Sitting in it,5 1 could still think of my grandfather. Recently she started to get It wasn't the chair that rerid of some of her belongings, " clearing out ekwets and boxes. minded you of him, she told me "All of this is just stuff. later. She was right. It was the Old stuff," she says, waving memory of him in that chair, a her hands at things to be dis- - ' memory I still have. carded. Recently, she recounted that Year3 ago, my grandparstory to me after a particularly difficult move Where many of ents lived in a house in the Bay Area. When they retired, my belongings were damaged they sold it and moved into the or destroyed, . mobile home in this small com"It's just stuff ," she said munity. It was manageable, wiping away my tears. "What livable for a couple facing their can't you replace?" twilight years. Not too long ago, she told me she decided to replace my Age, my grandmother says, grandfather's reclining chair in is a state of mind. It seems strange to hear that the living room. It was broken and the blue fabric was fading. from a woman who is, as she "But Gramma, I love that likes to say, "pushing 95." chair. It reminds me of Gram-pa,- " But it's true. I told her over the phone. She rides her three-wheShe dismissed my complaint. cycle through the mobile home "It's just stuff," she said. i v park delivering rent notices. She still rakes leaves in the fall. Shopping for a new chair, she said she sat in more than She wades into deep puddles to she can count. unclog the street drains after In the end, she picked a ' particularly bad rainstorms. And every month, she colcushioned, beige reclinerthat felt a lot like my grandfather's lects the rent checks for the old chair. And it looked a little mobile home park, balances Now she follows my moves by listening and imagining all the places, the stories. . el Kids the books and writes the de- posit. And she does this all despite undeniable signs of aging. Besides the macular degeneration, she has had knee replacement surgery. And last month, she had a pacemaker, which she has taken to calling her "ticker," put in to regulate her heartbeat. ' f It was a scary moment for the family. f Over the phone, she told me about the Medivac flight to the University of California, Davis, medical center. She told me about the tests, about the "new fangled machines" that she had never seen before. She told about the doctors and the many male nurses. "Those boys were so nice. They just let me tease them and laugh with them. I had so much fun," she said. i Fun? Yes, fun, she says. I'm still trying to figure out what her advice is with that story. Maybe it has something to do with male nurses. Or maybe she's trying to tell me to enjoy every minute of life. . . contributed more than $30,000 to Hillary Clinton's presidential bid so far, campaign finance records show. Chelsea often is spotted around New York with her boyfriend, Marc Mezvinsky, an investment banker and the son of former Democratic Reps. Ed Mezvinsky of Iowa and of Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsk- y John McCain's seven children have campaigned sporadically ; most were on hand for parts of his announce- Continued from Al ment tour last month. But former i New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani House anymore, so it's entirely different this time," said Lisa Caputo, who has acknowledged his estrangement was Hillary Clinton's press secretary from his children, a a t in Bill Clinton's first term. "But Cheland Caroline. ' sea is such a poised young lady in her When the Clintons first arrived in Washington in early 1993, they own right, if anyone has the maturity Pennsylvania. V Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mezto deal with the situation, it's her." pleaded with reporters to leave ChelEven so, the Clintons are mindful vinsky have known each other since sea alone. The request was largeh4 of their daughter's privacy and have heeded through her high school years they were teenagers in Washingtoa been determined to protect her from From John F, Kennedy's toddler and later at Stanford University,. son poking out from under his dad's the campaign fishbowL Requests for where she graduated with a degree in Oval Office desk in the early 1960s to history in 2001. interviews with Chelsea Clinton for ) the camera-read- y this story were declined. As a graduate student in England, antics of John Edwards youngsters in 2004, children "She is an adult, so she gets to where she attended Oxford Univep have helped to soften and humanize make those decisions for herself," Chelsea became sity from their politically ambitious parents. But a magnet for coverage by the British Hillary Clinton said in an Associated Press interview in Iowa last weekend their roles have varied widely, espe- tabloids, who eagerly reported on her when asked what her daughter might daily during campaign seasoa boyfriends, outfits and pub crawls." do in the campaign. In 2000, Democrat Al Gore's A particularly appearFormer President Clinton recently ance in 2002, when a designer-cladaughter, Karenna, was a said the family was determined to let top adviser and campaign surrogate. Chelsea showed up with Madonna Chelsea live as John Kerry's daughters, Alexandra and Gwyneth Paltrow at a Versace normally as possible .. for as much of the and show in Paris, set the pafashion Vanessa, actively campaigned . campaign. , "She has got her own life to live. ' for their father in 2004. But George , parazzi into a feeding frenzy. f . She works. She does her own W. Bush's twins, Jenna and Barbara, Since then, the excitement has . range , of other activities," Clinton said in a largely have avoided politics and did quieted down. While photos of Chek CNN interview, "She cares a lot about not campaign actively during their sea pop up from time to time in New father's two successful presidential politics and she wants her mom to York gossip columns, she largely has win. But she has got a life to live and races. kept a low-keprivate life. j JOHN DORIC KA Associated Press we dont want to interrupt that " Children's roles are shaping up In a recent Newsweek essay on the To be sure, Chelsea Clinton has Then Democratic presidential candidate Jimmy Carter is seen with his wife, very differently this time. pitfalls facing potential "first kids," not been absent totally from her Among Democrats, John Edwards' Ronald Reagan's daughter Patti Rosalyn, and their daughter, Amy, in April 1976. j mother's efforts. She recently joined oldest daughter, Cate, a old who was something of a hellraiser Iter parents onstage at a campaign Harvard Law student, has hit the during her father's White House fundraiser in Manhattan, but did not . tant to then-firwhere you lose the privacy you want. trail for her father as she did in 2004. years had nothing but praise for:' . lady Hillary Clinton address the audience. Hillary Clinton helped shield Chelsea from,the media She really values her personal BarackObama'stwo young daugh-- . how Chelsea has conducted Jjerself often describes how being a mom has during her teenage years, said Chelcy, so that's why she can be with her ters, ages 8 and 5, appeared at his will deckle mom sea kickoff for have her with but her otherwise herself mom and level "Somehow she understood the what shaped candidacy. campaign campaign been shielded from the spotlight so far. value of sUence, the Advisers say Chelsea Clinton prob- of privacy she can expect during the but not speak if she chooses." grace of staying On the Republican side, Mitt Rom-ney- 's For now Chelsea is busy with her ably will step up appearances later in campaign, just out of reach, even at a young 12 merit in"She'll billion adult five a sons durare the campaign as she did in 2000, work at Avenue Capital, $ protection based on heavily age," Davis wrote. "If Hillary gets volved in their father's efforts and are elected, Chelsea will be the first her own actions," Lattimore said. New York-base- d hedge fund run by ing the closing months of her mothFirst even publishing a joint campaign blog Marc Lasry, a longtime Clinton The wider you open the door, the er's first Senate race in New York. Daughter to do it all over again. And more you put yourself in a situation nor. Avenue Capital employees have Neel Lattimore, who as an assis- rtftpyfivebrothers.rnittrorruiey.anV you know what? She'll be fine." t r if mi u f' In An-dre- 2001-200- high-profil- e d i , 25-ye- st ' . |