Vacation turned trip back in time

What I thought was a vacation to visit South Dakota’s Badlands, National Parks and the Black Hills turned out to be an emotional trip back in time. 

 

Four years ago I wrote a column about my second-grade teacher, Barb Lewison. A few weeks later, another former teacher, Mary Sack, mailed her the paper and a gift subscription to the Star Eagle. 

 

Three years ago Barb’s husband Phillip, who served as pastor at St. Peter Lutheran Church in New Richland for 32 years, called to renew their subscription. I answered the office phone and, as so often happens when I answer the phone, we got to chatting. Many minutes–maybe an hour–later, Phillip insisted that if I were to ever visit South Dakota, I have a place to stay. 

 

I didn’t forget that phone call (or Mrs. Lewison) and I saved their number and address in my phone. 

 

Saturday night, we had our reunion.

 

I could tell you all of the incredible details of the splendid 5-day trip which started with an 8-hour drive Tuesday morning and ended Sunday evening at home, but it would all pale in comparison to how enjoyable, rewarding and loving the evening with Barb and Phillip turned out to be. 

 

My friend Madison asked me a couple weeks ago if I was interested in going to South Dakota for a vacation. I didn’t hesitate and said yes. I immediately thought of Mrs. Lewison but didn’t say anything right away. 

 

I mentioned her once before we left and we agreed to leave the last day and night of our trip open “just in case.”

 

Friday, staying in Lead, South Dakota, I asked Madi what she thought of seeing them Saturday.

 

She said absolutely, and even pushed me to call them and insisted we could visit with them anytime, day or night.

 

So I called their landline phone number around 7 p.m. 

 

They didn’t answer the phone and I’m glad they didn’t. The message on their answering machine can only be described as the most charming and inviting one I’ve ever heard. All the anxiety I had left my body instantly as I heard Phillip’s message, “You’ve reached the Lewisons…. We're so busy doing nothing we only get half of that done.”

 

Phillip called me back around 9 p.m. and invited Madi and me to dinner at an excellent restaurant in Hill City, The Alpine Inn. They weren’t wrong, the food was divine. And the company? Even better.

 

Madi and I arrived early and after we walked in I told Madi none of us really know what each other looks like. I remembered Mrs. Lewison’s hair and I had a mental image in my head but that was a memory from second grade. Turns out, she’s still the same person! 

After confirming with Facebook, we located each other quickly.

 

Many hugs and even more memories were shared.

 

Barb told me how she, a South Dakota native, met and married Phillip, a native of Iowa. They met at college and married in their twenties. Their union took them to Wisconsin, Minnesota and eventually New Richland where the couple resided for 32 years, raising their three children, Jenny, Martha, and Matthew. Told they could never have children of their own, the couple adopted two children before Barb became pregnant with their third. A miracle.

 

Today the 80-year-old couple have four grandchildren.

 

Phillip told me about his call to the seminary.

 

One day, while studying for tests, Phillip threw down his books, walked out of the study and told Barb he was going to be a pastor. 

 

Before that, Phillip had only previously mentioned one time that he felt a calling to shepherd a flock–and that had been when he was in middle school.

 

Barb took the change in stride.

 

In 2017, after 32 years preaching and 21 years teaching, the couple retired to Barb’s home state. They have called Custar, specifically Boot Hill, home for almost a decade now.

 

Thank you, Barb and Phillip, for making this an unforgettable vacation.

 

I apologize for any small errors in my story telling as I went off of memory from our conversation.

 

I expect, next week, to share the details of the adventures Madi and I shared beginning with the Black Hills on Tuesday and ending at Wall Drug on Sunday.