Jolan Toth

I was walking my dog, when I came across my neighbor Jolan Toth.  She has the legs of a dancer and her steps are just as graceful. I love the way her hair changes color with the seasons. One day it could be blonde and the next it is red. In the summer her olive skin becomes so dark it is almost black. She wears glasses over her dark chocolate eyes. Yet for some reason she remains single.  At about almost thirty-seven I would have thought she would have been married by now.

            What I know about Jolan is she’s a Jehovah’s Witness and marrying outside the religion is forbidden. But Jolan’s father isn’t a witness and pressures her to marry. I could see why Jolan wants to move out of her parents’ house. Worse of all she lives in a religiously divided house. Only her mother is of the same faith as Jolan is. Her father and brother are Protestant Presbyterian. She didn’t mind not celebrating the holidays or birthdays. But at the same time she has mixed emotions.

“Why do you have mixed emotions Jolan?’

“I feel like I don’t want to upset my family, however, I feel bad whenever I bring up holiday dinner.”

Even though she lived with her parents and younger brother holidays were tenser for her. Holidays were especially tense at work with everyone wishing her Happy Holidays.

“So how do you handle it when someone wishes you a Happy Holidays?”

“All I do is say Thank You and nothing more.”

“Why just thank you and nothing else?”

“That is because I don’t celebrate the holidays. Plus I’m uncomfortable when they wish me a happy holidays. But holidays are the perfect time to witness”

            “Why are the holidays a perfect time to witness?”

            “Everyone is thinking about Jesus Christ?”

            I can’t imagine what she’s going through. I mean I’m not a witness. I belong to the Hungarian reformed church. Holidays are a big to do for me. I even put up a Christmas tree at Christmas time. As a matter of fact Jolan and her mother are the only witnesses on the block and I’m getting ready to move. Yeah the witnesses come to my door and I listen but I doubt I’ll become a witness.

            “What made you want to become a Jehovah’s Witness?”

            “Well I started asking my best friend Joyce Johnston about her religion. From there I started studying the Bible with Sister Linda Johnson. Next thing I knew two years later I was baptized on December 31, 2005.”

            “Why did you start asking Joyce about her religion? Weren’t you happy with your religion?”

            “I started asking Joyce about her religion because I was curious about her religion. At that time I was a cross between happy and unhappy with my religion.”

            So I beginning to see why Jolan was happy but unhappy with her life she wants to marry but can’t find a guy in her religion. 

            “Why are you unhappy with your religion and life?”

            “I’m not unhappy with my religion now that I’ve found the truth. I’m just lonely at thirty-seven and single. It’s hard being single at my age.”

            I wondered what she meant by the truth. 

            “So what did you mean by the truth?”

            “I believe that the Jehovah’s Witnesses teach what they believe is based on the bible and the bible is the source of their learning. So I believe that absolute truth is in the bible. And the bible is based on the writings of Jehovah God who inspired men to write it.”