Brenda Nixon's Blog, page 11

Monroe on the Run, part I

Seventeen-year-old Monroe left his Amish settlement late Thursday evening.

Monroe as Swartzentruber AmishWe received a call from his cousin, "Two of my cousins just left. Can you give them a place to stay for just one night?"

My husband and I drove to the meeting place and brought Monroe and his sister to our home. They immediately needed English clothing, toiletries, shoes, showers, and Monroe wanted to cut his required Amish haircut. Equally necessary was getting each their birth c...

Breaking Amish LA

They emailed me. The subject line said, "documentary."

"They" were a California film company asking if I'd participate in a new Amish reality show. Hmm, I wondered, how real?

Most TV reality shows are scripted hype (with foul language), and far from factual. In truth, many of my ex-Amish pals know the young people on TLC's Breaking Amish show. No, those characters are not just now "breaking" from anything - they've been out for a while! Other reality Amish TV shows feature characters who've bee...

Amish on the Internet

Last week my pal and author colleague Janet Perez Eckles invited me as a guest on her internet radio show. "Brenda please share about the Amish and what you're learning by helping those who leave," she urged.

How could I turn down an opportunity to share discoveries about the Amish with the world? Janet's producer set up the connection and she and I chatted comfortably for an hour - I from my home - the marvels of technology! "Wow, I never knew that," she frequently exclaimed throughout the in...

Amish Best Kept Secret

It's true. They exist!

I first learned about them from my "son" Mosie. He said, "We had our own."

"So what were they like?" I asked.

"They pulled out our teeth."
Read more »

"I'll Take One"

He was practically salivating over the ex-Amish living with us. "I'll take one!" he eagerly offered.

While I appreciated his offer, I silently mused, Ex-Amish aren't a playmate or novelty act. They're people on the run who need
open, mature, understanding arms andacceptance without a ton of prying questions. Here's a reality report . . .

The naive offer to take in an Amish runaway and help him/her adjust to "outside" life is often romanticized as much as Amish...

Saving Sarah

At 10 PM, Thursday, April 18, my phone rang. On the other end was Noah.
Published with permission
"My cousins just left. Can you give 'em a place to stay for just one night?" he asked.

One was Sarah, a 19-year-old Swartzentruber Amish gal. She chose to leave and needed a kind "outsider" to give her a safe home and help.

My husband and I dressed, drove to WalMart, and met Sarah. She was tall - well, anyone higher than me is tall - slender, pretty, brown-eyed, with long brown hair and wore blue jea...

How the Ex-Amish Say It

One of the endearing things about the Swartzentruber Amish I know is their accent. My son-in-law Harvey tries to hide his but, the language is entrenched in his brain now. He won't shake an accent any more than a person who daily spoke Chinese the first 18 years of his life then tries to speak English.

We chuckled when Harvey talked about "cubons." We had no clue what he was talking about . . . until he described the little pieces of paper I use to save money at the store. Recognize the word n...

Amish Questions & Answers

"Are you anti-Amish?"
    He wasn't trying to be rude; he was confused and curious. My answer, "No. How can I be anti when I'm helping?" I neither romanticize nor criticize the Amish.
    My heart goes out to those who run - jump the fence - and need outstretched arms to catch them and soften the landing. So far I've helped Swartzentruber & Old Order Amish runaways with food, a temporary place to stay, English clothes, acquiring their birth certificate, limit...

I Learned; He Learned

As you're reading this, my home is again "home" to another Amish runaway. He's young, inexperienced in many ways, eager to please, and a delight to foster. His name is Monroe.

I walked into my kitchen one morning just in time to see Monroe . . . removing my new metal skilled from the microwave.

"What'd you just do?" I asked, fearing his answer.
"Warmed up my sandwich," he innocently replied.

"Can't put metal in a microwave."

"Why?"

"You'll ruin it." 

I've learned that Amish are visual; they wa...

Amish Book and Blog Update

Updates! As promised, here's what's going on with my work in progress (WIP); an Amish nonfiction book and this blog.

My book details our "adoption" and life with son Mosie, stories of Amish Gma, their Anabaptist heritage, tales of others who've left Amish, and much more. Two publishers were looking at my book proposal (bp) but one politely and graciously passed. The second is taking its sweet time deciding to buy it or not. Having been in the writing industry for 20 years, I understand the com...