On a land and sea trip to Alaska, my husband and I had the honor of visiting a homestead family. Jonelle, one of the daughters, met us at the hotel, rode on the bus with us, and told us the family story. In the 1960’s, when she was three years old, her mom and dad, who rented farmland in South Dakota, decided they were never going to get anywhere there, and heard about a … [Read more...]
Write YOUR Stories – while you can
For my 2016 (and beyond) project, I need your help. Let me start with some background. In the last few years, several deaths have hit me hard, especially the passing of women who influenced me and whom I admired. I wondered if they had told their stories, or better yet, written them. Stories about who loved them, what made them laugh and/or cry, where they most enjoyed … [Read more...]
Rural women’s strength and resiliency
Rural women’s strength and resiliency What a great week. I had the opportunity to reconnect with women I have not seen in a long while. Enjoy my brief synopsis: Opal finally had the courage to leave her husband of twenty years and to build her life without the man who chose to have multiple women. She spoke of the pain and the damage to her self-esteem. She was naturally … [Read more...]
Voices of Rural Women across American Heartland-12
JoAnne in S Canada I briefly met JoAnne while staying at the King Hotel in Kingsville, Ontario. She was a rural woman who had recently moved back to her childhood home and remodeled it with her second husband. She had a career as an Administrative Assistant at a fire department. She spoke of her two grown daughters, her mother who had moved into a condo, and how she juggled … [Read more...]
Voices of Rural Women across American Heartland-10
Inez in Western NY Ninety-five years ago today, August 26, 1920, women were granted the right to vote. By chance, we happened upon a statue of three women in Seneca Falls, NY. It represented Susan B. Anthony, Amelia Bloomer (dress reformer), and Elizabeth Cady Stanton meeting - shaking hands. Anthony and Stanton played leading roles in the cause of woman suffrage. If not for … [Read more...]