Meet a Mother from Along a Storied Trail

There is no way to be a perfect mother, and a million ways to be a good one. ~Jill Churchill

Happy Mother’s Day to all of you. Many of us are mothers which is plenty of reason to celebrate this special day, but whether you have children yourself, you, for sure, had a mother. We can all celebrate the life she gave us. Thank you, Mothers everywhere, and a special thanks to my wonderful mom. She’s gone on up to heaven, but she was a great mother who never failed to guide me and support me.

So, since we’re in the mother mood and since it’s only about three weeks until my new book, Along a Storied Trail, releases, I decided it was time to introduce another character from the story and that character is Tansy’s mother. Tansy is my packhorse librarian in the story. She is blessed to have a strong Christian mother.

Eugenia Calhoun has seen some hard times in her life and now here in 1936 during the Depression years, things haven’t gotten any easier. Joshua Calhoun is ready to leave the mountains to look for work. Here’s an excerpt from the book after Joshua told Eugenia his plans. Eugenia is trying to talk him out of going by saying they could get by on what they’d been able to store up even though the summer drought had been hard on their garden and crops. Tansy is overhearing them talk in the night.

Her father didn’t say anything for so long that Tansy about decided he’d let Ma have the last word and gone to sleep. But then he said, “It ain’t your fault, Eugenia. Ain’t mine either. The Lord just didn’t send us no rain.”

“The Lord supplies our needs.”

Tansy heard the absolute certainty in Ma’s voice. She refused to hear complaints against the Lord. Even when Robbie died. She had sat by Robbie’s bed night and day, praying fervently for him to get well. But once the boy’s breaths stopped, she folded his little hands together, kissed his forehead, and accepted it as the Lord’s will. She didn’t war against that, like Tansy wanted to. Or like Pa did. He’d gone off and not come back until after the neighbors dug a grave and helped lay Robbie to rest. Ma said that was the only way Pa could take losing a son.

“At times better than other times.” Pa sounded worn out. “Lately he must not be paying much mind to what folks is needin’ down here.”

That went too far for Ma. “I’m thinking you best offer up a prayer for the Lord to open your eyes to the blessings he sends down to us.”

“Maybe so.” Pa’s voice gentled. “Be that as it may, I see how you never put much on your plate at suppertime. If I head out to find work somewheres, that’ll be one less mouth at the table. Tansy and Josh are old enough to take care of things around here.”

“Tansy might find a feller and get married.” 

Tansy couldn’t decide if Ma sounded worried or hopeful about that. Maybe resigned to their fates, whatever they were.

I hope you will enjoy reading about Tansy and her mother and all the other characters in Along a Storied Trail. Now’s a great time to check out the pre-order sales. Baker Book House has a great deal going on for pre-orders with 40% off and free shipping. The discount changes to 30% (I think) after June 1. The book is available at most internet sites and I can’t wait to hear what you think about the story.

Also there’s a Goodreads giveaway going on right now. Five winners will get a copy of Along a Storied Trail. 

Thanks for reading and here’s another Mother’s Day quote for you.

Being a full-time mother is one of the highest salaried jobs…since the payment is pure love. ~Mildred B. Vermont

Does Eugenia remind you of any mothers you’ve known?