“In the pattern of God’s purpose we are stitched together in caring and communion: scraps of the lingering past, fragments broken from future’s dearest hopes.”
Those words from a poem are reflected in the memories shared by Louise Wiederstein who was born on the family farm in Okeene, Oklahoma and was the only girl growing up with three brothers and parents who raised livestock and gardened.
Upon graduating from high school Louise met Hugo Wiederstein through family. After several years of courting, they married and ended up enjoying sixty-three years together. When Hugo was discharged from the Air Force they moved to Liberal, Kansas where they made their home for thirty-two years while Hugo managed a filling station.
Louise worked as a professional caregiver in the obstetrics (nursery) unit at Southwest Medical Center, from which she eventually retired.
As Hugo’s health declined, she directed her caregiving to him for twenty-seven years before his death after having moved to Newton in 1998.
Louise and Hugo became parents of three sons who, these days, live in Kechi, Kansas; Houston, Texas; and Sierra Vista, Arizona; and have produced Louise’s six grandchildren and three great grandchildren.
Quilting has been an ongoing hobby for Louise and she has made a quilt for each grandchild as well as pursuing quilting projects with other women at her local church, Zion Lutheran.
She also appreciates the new campus friends she’s made along with the West Side Gals gatherings.
All these recollections and new associations are allowing Louise to patch together and transform into a blanket of comfort and delight her life as a campus resident here at Kansas Christian Home.