My Journey
1956: Born to Harlan and Dorothea Stratton in a small Iowa town.
1957: Older sister’s flower girl in uncle and aunt’s wedding.
1958: Dad diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS).
1959: Dad resigns as extension agent because of MS. Wheelchair bound, but able to help at home for 9 years.
1960: Mom finishes teaching degree. Teaches school, cares for Dad and three kids (ages 7, 4, & 1).
1961: Enter kindergarten. Covet coloring gold star. Criteria include: coloring in one direction only and staying in the line.
1962: Choose future career track - flower girl.
1963: Younger brother’s ring bearer in cousin’s wedding.
1965: Start playing oboe. Use word “play” loosely here.
1966: See first stage show at local high school. Trade flower girl career for stage. Became a Christian at church camp.
1968: Start junior high. Creative new friend, Mary Anne, demonstrates a whole new way to respond to the world. I am changed.
1968: Make stage debut with a speaking part in church Easter play. No stopping me now.
1969: Dad weaker. Mom hires his first daytime caregiver.
1970: New neighbor’s daughter, Jane, teaches me school tricks including: write down assignments, start them early, read the textbook before class.
1971: Start high school. Join chorus, wrestle oboe in band, audition for plays. Get first part in spring play.
1974: Graduate from high school. Attend Westmar College in the fall. Meet a cute guy at freshman orientation dance.
1975: Dad has either a small stroke or a severe MS relapse. Becomes total invalid.
1977: Marry cute guy, Hiram Philo in July. That is his real name.
1978: Graduate with elementary ed degree. Move to South Dakota with Hiram. We work at Sky Ranch for Boys. Undergo culture shock in remote country (See photo).
1980: Begin teaching country school in Camp Crook.
1982: Hiram drives 70 miles (55 of it gravel) to hospital. Son, Allen, born on May 23. He’s life flighted that day for trachea/esophagus surgery. Surgeries continue for 3 years.
1983: Dad develops diabetes. Moves to nursing home.
1985: Start teaching in Boone, Iowa. Much closer to doctors and hospitals.
1986: Final (we hope) corrective surgery for Allen.
1988: Earn Masters Degree in May. Hiram drives 10 blocks over paved streets to hospital. Daughter, Anne, born on July 22. All parts in working order.
1991: Hiram graduates from nursing school. Anne begins sculpting with wet Kleenex.
1995: Get writing bug.
1996: Anne fashions Barbie outfits from dry Kleenex. Begins seamstress career.
1997: Dad dies, March 4. Was youngest resident at the nursing home - and had been there the longest, 14 years. Mom moves to Boone.
1998: Another final (we hope) corrective surgery for Allen.
2001: Allen graduates high school. Goes to college in fall.
2002: Write Lessons from My Father, book about growing up with Dad. Attend first writers’ conference. Allen converts to Orthodox faith and enters monastery within a year. Neurotic dachshund, Abby, joins household.
2003: Leave teaching after 25 years. Named “Honorary Flower Girl Forever” by fellow teachers. Start part time church job and pursue writing career. Big gulp!
2005: Go overseas with mom, daughter and other relatives. Catch photography bug. Publish first article in P31 Woman and second in ParentLife. Sign with agent, Les Stobbe. Brush up stage skills and begin public speaking.
2006: Broadcast commentaries on Iowa Public Radio. Publish articles in Home Cooking, P31 Woman, LookOut, and Seek. Receive first EasyBake Oven for Christmas.
2007: Articles published in ParentLife, indeed, LookOut, Seek, Facets, and at inspiredmom.com. Sell photographs. Begin writing column for Jill Hart’s website, Christian Work At Home Moms (CWAHM). Anne graduates high school in May. I resign at church in June to write and speak full time. Anne goes to college in August. Busy summer. Empty nest. Yee-hah!
2008: Receive word in February that Discovery House Publishers has accepted her mansucript for A Different Dream for My Child: Meditations for Parents of Cricially and Chronically Ill Children. Spend spring and summer conducting interviews, late summer and fall writing and revising manuscript so it is in by the January 1, 2009 deadline. Begins blogging at EP, the website of Exceptional Parent Magazine. In December, Allen leaves monastery and undergoes treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder induced by the medical trauma he experienced as a little child.
2009: Jolene sends Different Dream manscript to the publisher on time. Allen decides not to return to monastery and moves to the Twin Cities where he finds the girl he left be and a job. Jolene writes curriculum and contributes to a kids’ devotional for Pioneer Clubs. Son announces engagement in July. Different Dream is released in September and its companion website, www.DifferentDream.com is launched. Lots of book promotion and speaking engagements mean Hiram waves good-bye often. Anne announces her engagement in November. The Philos start making wedding plans.
Top Ten Things I’ve Learned:
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10. I’d rather color outside the lines and in my own direction.
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9. Wet, sculpted Kleenex is very squishy when stepped on.
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8. Seventy miles seems endless when you’re in labor.
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7. My mother is an amazing woman.
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6. Take the lens cap off.
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5. Don’t set your son’s trap drum set up in the room directly above your bedroom.
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4. EasyBake Ovens don’t work all that well.
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3. My father’s life was not a tragedy.
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2. A supportive spouse is essential for aspiring writers.
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1. God is good even when life isn’t.
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