13 Comments

I love the new characters and can't wait to know them better. Eli has already given Elizer a purpose in life that the didn't really have.

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I love old Eizer Griggs, myself, and the latent, nurturing father in him. He just jumps into a new way of life as if he has been waiting to be needed forever. Thank you, Janice for spending time with Bartle Clunes.

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He and Bartle never seemed to blink an eye when a young relative came in to their lives to stay - they seemed to make the adjustment seamlessly.

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Janice, you are absolutely right. I wonder why that is a recurring theme with me? Possibly because of my non-existent relationship with my own father. Are Bartle and Eizer both father-figures for me... seems transparent now that I consider it. Wow.

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It could be - in that it is how you wish your father had accepted you into his life or you have created characters with the qualities you wish he had exhibited.

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I hadn't really thought of it, Janice, until I read your comment. My writing must be a good deal of catharsis...

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Sharron, I know my writing is. I began to write seriously as a way to make sense of and deal with my husband's dementia and death. The writing allowed me to pass on lessons learned, so others might make different choices and be better prepared.

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So many orphans back then....

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There was not a lot of support for single mothers in trouble in 1950. Still aren't, if you ask me. Thanks for reading!

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I think Elizer needed Eli as much as Eli needed Elizer.

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Oh, thank you so much for this comment. They rescued each other, I think. Eli needed stability. Eizer needed someone to respond to his loving nature, somewhere to put his love.

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A good pair.

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