- Delaney

Miracles Happen

       A book sat against the wall in a campground bathroom and I carried to the woman who had set it down. Brende and her husband, Bo, happened to be talking with the members of my van about their travels. Evidently, one of her favorite traditions when she camps is to leave books that she’s finished in the bathroom and let the next person pick it up as they please. We all got around to talking and I showed them my hemp bracelet and my necklace my sister had made. Bo then showed us his bracelet called a Running Turk’s Head. He used to be an Eagle Scout, and his entire troupe had these bracelets. However, it wasn’t until a few years ago that he decided to teach himself how to make them. It is a continuous weave that has no knots or hooks. It’s only one piece of thin rope stretching about nine feet to create a braid. The rope is coated in plastic and is welded together with a lighter. Bo offered to make us all our own bracelets, and with our van driver, we filed into their camper to follow through with an interview.
            Bo and Brende told us about their 39 year marriage and that they were teachers for 35 years. Bo taught a range of history, phys ed, and music while Brende taught in the same classroom for the fourth grade for all 35 years of her career. The Johnston’s are from the Florida Keys and since their retirement, they have visited every state, except for Hawaii, via trailer. They told me they had one daughter named Abi who had just turned 28. They called her their “miracle baby”.
            In their early years of marriage, Bo and Brende tried to start a family, but were told by numerous doctors that that would never be possible. So the years went by and they used the money originally for their baby, for other things they enjoyed together like, sailing, and owning their own home and car. After ten long years, they surprisingly received good news. “Abi looked down on us from heaven and said, ‘Ok, you got that boat that I’ve always wanted. Ok, now get the blue car with the white interior that I like, yup, that’s the one. Ok, I’m comin’!’, and then she came,” said Bo. Brende pitched in, “We call her our miracle baby.”
            “We always say, being teachers, that our children are our students. For a while there, it was our defensive way of saying, ‘You know, it’s ok. We have a house and a car and jobs, we don’t need children,’” said Bo, “Then, when you have your own child, it’s completely different, and I would not have missed it for the world.”
            From then on, Abi became their main focus, and she still is. She was recently married, and at her wedding, Bo made the entire wedding party some Running Turks Head. Over the years, Bo has learned much more than he ever thought he could, “First of all, I think it’s important to be married before you have children. Once you have children, you always have children, they don’t just go away after 18 years. Children are either going to grow up with you, or without you, but they’re going to grow up. And you’d better be there from them.”