By Karla Klemm — What makes up the fabric of a life? How can I explain my love for cooking, enjoying a walk in the woods and reading a good book, especially poetry? These traits most assuredly come from a variety of people in my life, especially my maternal grandmother, Millicent “Milly” Doleman Barrett.
She was born February 3, 1907 to a young mother in northern Idaho who, for an unknown reason, was not able to care for her. In the same town, there lived a couple, John and Agnes Doleman, who had three teenage boys–James, Horrace, and Frank. They had always wanted a girl, so as my grandmother recounted to me, “when they heard of this homeless baby, they took her into their home and adopted her”. Her older brothers loved her dearly and doted on her. There were always interesting things to do on their ranch–horses to ride, cows to herd and chickens to feed. One of the boys had a goat and he would hitch it to a wagon and give Milly a ride.
As she grew, she decided to become a teacher and attended Walla Walla College for two years. She later recounted to me her pride in the fact that she was adopted by a Seventh-day Adventist family. Her parents had joined the church when their three boys were quite young.
My grandmother met Raymond Barrett in Oregon at a bus junction and they later eloped in 1928, much to the chagrin of both sides of the family (they went on to be married for 58 years). They had one daughter, Joanne, my mother. As I grew up near my grandparents, they were like second parents to me and my brother and sister. We had many lazy summer days playing in the nearby woods, reading books aloud and running around the perimeter of the house to see how high we could get our heart rate to go. I can still taste the homemade bread and Tillamook cheddar cheese sandwiches she would make for us after climbing the hill from the bottom of the driveway where the school bus dropped us.
My grandmother would have been most interested if there had been ancestry.com when she was alive. The mystery of the origin of her birth family was a consistent presence in her life, yet how fortunate she felt to have been adopted by her family. This makes me reflect on how awesome and special adoption can be.
In the words of Jon Piper, “Adoption is the visible gospel.”
I have huge appreciation and admiration for those who are able to adopt children. From what I’ve read and heard, it swells the heart beyond measure. I look forward to the day when I might know the full origins of my family tree. In the meantime, I’m so thankful for the family who made room in their hearts for my dear grandmother.
—Karla Klemm is a member of the Grand Junction, Colorado church; she facilitates church community events.
Pictured (left to right) is James, John, Frank, Agnes and Horace with young Milly.
