There was a tradition of fasting at the mission. This was meant to bring you closer to God and give you more time for study and prayer.

My mom had led an interesting life even before she met my dad. Mom was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on November 4, 1938.

A very rare picture of my dad, Tom Crotser My Grandparents Before I can go into more detail, I really feel that you need to get to know...

Large group of us from Holy Ground Mission. I am in the middle on the second row. That is my sister, Nancy, in front of me with her sleeve covering her face. I loved school. I know, I'm probably in the minority, but I really loved going to school. I think the main reason was that in school I actually had the chance to get an A and feel like I was doing something right. At home I never really felt that approval. My mom was very much an old-school housewife. All she ever wanted

I have so many things to tell you about my life that it is overwhelmingly hard to figure out where to start. But, I have to start somewhere and then I can fill in the other details later. I’m going to start at age 12 today. When I turned 12, my life changed dramatically. Before that I didn’t feel like we were weird or anything. My dad was a preacher, my mom a housewife, and I am the oldest of 5 children. We moved every year or so and I was used to being the new kid at school.