“Hey grandma! I’m writing to tell you I’ve finished reading Sarah’s Secret! I thought you did a great job with it. I’ve got a couple questions I would love to ask you about it some time. Maybe we make time for a call?" (e-mail from youngest grandson)
I was thrilled that he read it and liked it. He had tried to read it a few years ago but as he said it was “too old for me then.” We made time for a call to answer his questions.
“Which one of the boys is based on your father?” “Is Sarah your grandmother’s real name?” “Did she really take a wagon back to Nebraska from New Mexico?” “What part is true and what part is fiction?” “How did you find out about the facts that are true?”
I delighted in answering his questions. I did not use anyone’s real names in the story including my grandmother but I did create the characters in the image as I remember them of my grandmother, my father and his siblings. From the documents I uncovered, I learned that my grandmother and her children traveled from Tucumcari, New Mexico back to Thedford, Nebraska by wagon driven by her older sons. It was a potentially dangerous and risky venture by a woman “alone” with five children. Since the shadowy figure of my grandfather was unknown to me, his character and the section of his flight from the law from Texas to Wyoming is totally a work of fiction.
To those with curiosity about why I wrote the book, I have often spoken about the mystery of my grandfather. Few members of my generation, born as the United States entered and fought World War II, have a grandfather who was born in 1840 and fought in the Civil War. My own curiosity about this shadowy figure in my childhood, not only for me but for my cousins and other family members, led me to pursue the genealogy of the family. The documents I uncovered, especially in the National Archives and in the historical societies in rural Indiana and Nebraska provided many of the true incidents described in the book. However, much of my grandfather’s life remained hidden and unknown.
I have written that “the story is like finding a skeleton in a musty old trunk. The bones are real but the flesh is long gone and the circumstances of how it happened to be put in the trunk are mysteriously unknown. Thus, the bones of this story are true but the flushing out of the context, human emotions and the reasons for decisions and impulses are created from my imagination. These are my efforts to put myself in the time period and the lives of the primary characters. These are the creations from my imaginary excursions, quiet moments of intuition, dreams and flights of inspiration, efforts to weave a credible yet engaging story about my grandparents.” (From the Forward in Sarah’s Secret)
I was also thrilled that my grandson was interested in his family ancestry. I want him to know that he comes from hardy pioneer stock who crossed the prairie, took risks, cultivated the land, built houses and established towns and communities. Like many others who were pioneers, my grandmother worked hard, faced and overcame challenges with courage and persistence and found strength and resilience from her faith and her moral principles. The pride my grandson shared was expressed when he exclaimed about the book, “Wow! This is about my family!
..