Sara

On March 1, 1982, Sara Oetinger began to work for us. She started out as a cleaning lady, to help me cope with three tiny children, and stayed on through two more children, three different houses (or more) and all the ups and downs of family life. She was tall and somewhat frazzled and was an excellent cleaner, but most importantly, she loved the kids. Sara said she always preferred the babies because when they were that young, they weren't smarter than her yet. But we always knew she loved our kids like crazy.

She told me later that just before she started working for us, she dreamed she had a dark-haired baby in a red-and-white crib. When she started with us, and saw Karren, dark-haired and snuggled away in the same old white crib with red teething bars and the rag-doll design, she felt like it was meant to be. Perhaps it was; she was certainly a blessing for us. And if Karren was very special to her, she never let it make a difference for the rest of the kids.