Visits with the Amish: Impressions of the Plain Life

Chapter 9: A trip to Dorothy Mast’s country store

81 The Amish believe that life should be spent in perfecting the spirit, not in pursuing material goods. Amish children live far away from shopping malls, and they do not even shop much in country stores. The Amish families I met like to shop locally, buying from merchants in the Amish community. They strive to be self-sufficient and try to make or grow everything that they need. Using styles and patterns passed down for generations, mothers and teenage girls sew all the clothes for the family. Children wear hand-me-downs from older brothers and sisters. Amish parents may purchase certain toys—such as red wagons, farm sets with plastic animals and buildings, and dolls. But many preschool children play with homemade cloth Amish dolls with no faces, to be completely plain. 9 a trip to Dorothy Mast’s country store chapter 82 Rather than accumulating material goods, the Amish teach their children to accumulate lifelong friendships, loving families, and the qualities of honesty, generosity, and selflessness. From Amish wide-brimmed straw hats to fine china, the shelves at Dorothy Mast’s Community Country Store burst with everything an Amish family doesn’t make at home. Even though it’s only a few weeks before Christmas, my companions , Kathryn and Sharon Kauffman, ages 14 and six, are not thinking about Christmas shopping. Nor are they thinking about the gifts they will receive. In their Amish home, the birth of Christ is celebrated as a day for spiritual renewal, and presents are not emphasized . “Usually, if we get a gift from our parents for our birthday, we won’t get one for Christmas,” says Kathryn. Gifts are often homemade. One year for her mother’s birthday, the whole family of 10 children drew a mural on a large piece of butcher paper. “The picture had a house with a garden, and Dad drew a dog digging in it,” says Kathryn with a laugh. “That was to tease her, because she doesn’t like it when our dog digs up her flowers.” Today Kathryn and Sharon wear matching light blue dresses. A black woven shawl protects Kathryn from the December wind; a black wool jacket shields Sharon. Both wear black Amish bonnets, black stockings, and sturdy black shoes shining with polish. Amish girls and women often dress this way when they go to town or to church. As she gracefully glides slowly down the aisles of the store with her hands folded under her shawl, Kathryn’s clear brown eyes reflect serenity and wisdom. Although she seems content to be silent, she speaks with confidence and usually ends her sentences with a pleasant smile or a laugh. Sharon seems quite shy, speaking only when I talk to her. When I mention this to her mother later on, though, she laughs. It part three 83 a trip to Dorothy Mast’s country store seems Sharon is quite the chatterbox at home. Kathryn says she seldom goes to town, nor does she shop at Amish country stores like this one. Once a year, if she’s outgrown her shoes (and if her older sister’s hand-me-downs aren’t in good shape), she comes to this store with her parents for the annual shoe and boot sale. When her parents leave their farm to shop a few times a month, they usually take one or two of the younger children in their horse and buggy. The older children, such as Kathryn, stay home to take care of the others. The girls show me a few of the things their parents might purchase for the family: black stockings for the girls, suspenders for the boys, towels, sewing supplies, shoes, and boots. Kathryn points out the pink and blue knitted booties and bibs that her cousin makes for sale in the store and the caps that her grandmother knits. As we pass the aisles of boots, shoes, and slippers, Kathryn laughs and describes the slippers she once crocheted. “I have to admit , they were pretty outlandish. They were all different colors, because I wanted to use up all our scraps of yarn.” In the toy department, Kathryn says, “This would be an ideal gift for a small Amish boy.” She’s pointing to a shiny miniature plow. For girls, the store sells dolls and baby bottles. I ask Sharon if she plays with a doll at home, and she smiles and nods...