A visit with the Demings

One of the things I love most about my job as a reporter here at the Herald is that I get to sit with random folks for a couple hours and chat. To me, that is the essence of being relentlessly local. Often, as I’m gathering the actual story, what surfaces is so much more. Just recently I visited with John and Ruth Deming. The intent was to get a story about a local resident who makes award-winning cookies, but as is the case when people share their stories it felt more like a conversations with friends.
In fact, the Demings’ warmth struck me immediately. They are social people and welcomed me, a virtual stranger, into their home. Well, I’m almost a stranger, as I learned through our conversation. I’d received a note of encouragement from Ruth a few years back when I was going through my treatment for breast cancer and writing extensively about. She, too, is a breast cancer survivor.
When I walked into the Deming home, it felt like I’d walked into the home of longtime friends. If I had a sense of smell, I’m sure I would have been hit by the lingering sweet smell of cookies just baked. My eyes were instantly drawn to an array of plants in the front window, the largest of which had greenery that curled in all directions. That was Ruth’s night blooming cereus. She’s a bit of a green thumb, and she showed me a picture of one of the blooms, which only opens at night, and told me that she calls one of the local florists when she knows a flower is about to open.
John had his stories, too. He was eager to tell them. They had nothing to do with baking cookies but they were rich with flavor all the same. He knows something about this area, having grown up in Tipton and having been active in Boy Scouts of America for many, many years. He eagerly showed me all he’s been doing to dig up his family’s history through genealogical research, and he shared stories of traveling to Northern Ireland with boy scouts during some of the country’s most trying times.
Ruth and John talked about how they met at the Tecumseh Center for the Arts, and it seemed like where one left off with a story the other picked up, bits and pieces of lives lived and shared with their communities. The visit ended with me taking photos, as I always do, though I was not the only photographer in the house. Ruth’s own beautiful shots of such outdoor scenery as the sun setting on a lake were hung throughout their home. After my brief photo session, Ruth took me on a quick tour of her gardens showing me her big, white moonflower blooms, her tiger lilies and hollyhocks that looked like pink bursts of fireworks. We talked more about her cookies and how from time to time she leaves a bag for her mail person. Honestly, I could have sat there all day and almost did were it not for the rumble of my empty stomach. Of course, Ruth had a remedy for that. As I packed my notepad and camera into the car, so went a big bag of award-winning oatmeal cookies to share with my coworkers. After all, how could I write about award-winning cookies without tasting them? Thank you, Ruth and John. It was a pleasure.