A Good Year for the Roses

This has been a very busy summer; some of it traveling to different colonies, for both work and visiting. Thus, I haven't had time for things like blogging. In some ways, it feels like my summer holidays have just started, and here I'm back in school preparing for the start of school.

It's been really rewarding though, to run into and chat with many people who have read Hutterite Diaries. One lady told me how much she enjoyed reading my book, "I wanted some of the stories to be longer." I always find it interesting to hear which stories are favourites.

Had a sweet experience visiting family friends at another colony last week. They had their non-Hutterite neighbors for the evening there as well. I'm not sure how the topic of writing came up, when one of them mentioned my book. The neighbour lady, an avid reader, but who had never met a Hutterite writer, got excited and wanted to see it. Fortunately I had remembered to bring some copies along. As the book was being passed around, one of my friends suggested I read one story. "Everybody loves bedtime stories," she continued. "This will be ours today."

So I agreed to this impromptu reading and was glad I did. I chose to read, A Circle Not Unbroken, part of which tells about a tragic time for my family; we lost our house due to a fire when I was five years old. Two of my brothers died, and my sister was severely burned. I wasn't sure how my emotions would hold up reading this out loud, but I was fine.. for the most part anyway. The neighbour lady was deeply touched and was wiping away tears when I finished reading. She promptly got up and asked if she could give me a hug, and asked to buy the book.

Then one day, I got this sweet message on my phone:  "I just wanted to let you know I read your book twice. I have thoroughly enjoyed it and learned so much. I'm proud of you and am honoured to know you. I am really moved by your writing.Thanks so much for writing it!"

Metaphorically speaking, this is my garden.

It's beautiful moments like these that confirm for me, that I made the right choice in writing this book. It's like I receive a rose each time someone tells me that they were touched in some way by my book. My rose garden is still growing.

Thank you so much for buying my book and sharing your thoughts with me!