A Packrat's Reward

"Where do you get your ideas?" is a question every writer hears. My usual boring answer is "Everywhere" but today I have a very specific example.

Last night, in tidying up my workroom -- that packrat's trove of assorted stuff -- I came across some old books Dessie Wilson gave me back in 1975, our first year in the mountains. There were several old hymnals and a textbook -Everyday Science -- inscribed with Dessie's maiden name and the date 1922. Inside the book were the things you see in the picture.

I only saw Dessie twice -- she was the friend of a friend -- and in '75, elderly and ailing, she and her husband Walter moved from their lifetime home to the middle of the state where a son was going to take care of them. Nonetheless Dessie's one of the prototypes for many of the older women in my books. And now I have a little glimpse into her earlier life (mouse over the photo and left click to read it yourself) -- she ordered chicks from Sears Roebuck in '45, in '37 she was considering a wrought iron range from St. Louis, there's a post card from a brother-in law in '45 mentioning ration books -"a shoe stamp.' And the fact that he sent a post card, when they were both living in the same area, reminds me that telephones were rare.

But the best part is the inscription on a blank page near the front of the book. In faded ink and in a different handwriting than Dessie used for her name, it reads: My life is all I have to give you My days on earth may be but few. I hope to spend them all with you. Only, guess who? And here, penciled in Dessie's hand is the word Walter. Then the inscription continues: When in some far and distand land You see the writting of my hand Altho my face you see no more Meet me at Heaven's door.

Do you think that some of this might just find its way into my work in progress, the book about Miss Birdie? I'd say it's a safe bet.

And even more intriguing is a penciled sentence on another page: There is all ways some body ready to point a finger of scorn at me. Guess who.

Oh, boy, I can't wait to use this stuff!