One of my tenth graders wrote a short biography of her grandmother. I was so blessed by it that I asked her if I may publish it on my blog for others to enjoy.
Robert Slabaugh found himself flying through the air and across the ditch. He landed on his feet and immediately turned around, because he expected to see the truck right behind him, but it had gotten stopped by a tree. He had been hauling a load of pigs, and the truck had flipped. He hadn’t gotten a scratch, but some of the pigs were injured, and others were killed. With the help of some others, Robert got the pigs into a nearby fenced in area. The next day they caught the pigs by their respective tails and loaded them into another truck. Robert’s wife, Irene Slabaugh, didn’t know that her husband had been in an accident until he got home.
Going back to January 17 of 1942, we hear the screams of the newborn baby, Irene Lambright. She was born at home and the doctor came out to her parents’ house. Of the eleven children that Jacob and Alma Lambright had, Irene was the youngest. She had six brothers and four sisters. A little over nineteen years later, on May 6, 1961, Irene Lambright became a Slabaugh.
In January of 1969, Irene and Robert Slabaugh moved down to Paraguay with their two adopted children. When they left, Irene saw her dad cry for the first time she could remember. They had gone to help start a colony, and it was over 100 degrees there at the time. The land they were to live on had no buildings and was covered with trees, stumps, and other things that you would find in the bush.
Irene and Robert had to clear a path onto their land. Irene ran the tractor while Robert handled the chains to move the stumps, and the first time Irene walk down that path she looked up and said, “I see only one nice place, and that is straight up in the sky.” While the couple built their house, which was about half a mile down that path, they lived in a little cabin that the minister and his family had built.
When they first got there Irene didn’t know what they would eat. She had to learn what mandioca, something kind of like a potato, was and how to cook rice. They hardly ever got potatoes, but every now and then they would buy them from a bigger town for a treat. One of these times, they were having mashed potatoes and a native ate the meal with them. He didn’t know what they were, and he started to spread them on his bread!
One day someone asked Irene and Robert if they would adopt a child. They agreed that they would, and after it was born in 1970, they went to they clinic to get it. Lisa was a small baby and Irene laid her in a doll bed as a crib.
Four years later they adopted Nelson in Asuncion. On the way home in the bus they asked for milk to feed him, and they were given something for him to drink. Nelson had seizures, which made it more difficult to take care of him.
Due to the difficulty of taking care of Nelson, Irene and Robert decided that they had enough children, but in 1980 they were asked if they would take another child. The mother couldn’t take care of it, and after it was born she abandoned it. They ended up taking the child in and they named it Elmer after Irene’s brother, who had died since their move to Paraguay.
Some of the hardships that Irene faced were things getting stolen and learning a whole different life style. There wasn’t any electric, and communication with her family was quite difficult because they didn’t have telephones. She and Robert had to make their own living and they didn’t really have money. It was especially hard for her when other couples that had come to live there didn’t stay, and at times she was homesick, especially when she knew that the family was getting together and when there were funerals.
During the time they lived in Paraguay, Irene lost four immediate family members: her sister Viola, her father, her brother Elmer, and her mother. They died in that order, and she was only able to attend the funerals of her sister and mother. When her father died, Irene went upstairs by herself and had her own little funeral. In her mind she was at the real funeral, but in reality she was still in Paraguay. The Lord gave her the strength and courage to go on.
Another thing that happened was the hepatitis epidemic. First Robert got sick, and he had to go to the hospital. After he was home, Irene also got sick and had to go to the hospital. Later, when they were coming home from the hospital in their pickup, they were both feeling bad, and by the time they got home they both had to go to bed. Other people from the colony had to come and take care of them and their children.
Despite all of the hardships that she had to overcome, there were things that Irene enjoyed about living in Paraguay. She had always enjoyed working outside, and she got to do plenty of that. Also she enjoyed meeting the people, natives and colonists alike.
After fifteen and a half years, Irene and Robert moved back to the United States. Irene had turned 27 a few days after arriving in Paraguay, and when they left she was 42 years old. When they were trying to get their passports, Irene had the children and their important papers. She was on the bus and when she got off she was watching the children, and too late she realized that she had left the important papers on the bus. She cried when she realized it, and she did try to catch the bus, but she didn’t. She was, as any person would be, hysterical, and a kind couple helped them while they were getting new papers.
When they first moved back to the United States, Irene and Robert lived in Indiana. They later moved to Texas, and on the way down they got lost. They were driving separate vehicles and somehow got separated, but they eventually found each other again.
Today, Irene and Robert have been living in Texas for twenty-five years. Irene believes that it is by God’s grace that their lives are how they are now, and said, “It’s a miracle that we even made it.” She trusted in God to lead her through all the hardships she went through, and her life is an excellent example to for the rest of us to do the same.