Winter of Beauty

DH brought in the mail this afternoon. This was in it:

I'm so excited for my friend Amy. We met at the Western Heritage Classic in Abilene, Tx in  1998. She had written an article called, The Busy Day, that was published in Western Horseman. I connected to her words immediately and often sent copies of that article to friends. DH heard me praise it often and as we browsed through the trade show, I had stopped to speak to a gal who was juggling a toddler on her hip and addressing a small boy who was standing at her side. I smiled and made a comment that I have since forgotten, but would most certainly had something to do with how fast children grow, and moved on. I reached DH just a few booths down and he said, "That's the lady who wrote that article."

2 seconds later I approached her and a friendship was born. We both thought that letter writing was becoming a lost art and instantly, we became pen pals...the old fashioned kind although we did type our letters using Word on our very first home computers. Neither one of us had access to the Internet back them. She lived in the Panhandle of Texas and I was in the mountains of west Texas. We were both ranch wives and eagerly looked forward to fat envelopes that quickly began to ferry their way from the end of one dirt road to another.  As soon as one letter was mailed, another was begun. A 15 page letter was not uncommon, and there were often letters twice as long. After that, we saw each other once a year in Abilene and we would sit out in the truck until the wee hours of the morning visiting. Once DH even knocked on the window of the truck at 3 am and asked if we were ok. :)

We were both avid readers and eagerly shared titles and sent books back and forth. I once sent her "The Poinsonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver. She read it and returned it with a sticky note that read, "Nick says you can't send me books like this anymore because he didn't see me for 2 days". :)

We exchanged recipes and I can't make Angel Biscuits or Rancher's Potatoes without thinking of her.

Along with those letters, Amy sent  me articles she had written. The girl has such talent. I was moved by her words and that's exactly what talented writers do. They take you on a journey and make you feel. They make you laugh and cry and get mad. They make you ask questions. And search for answers. They draw you in, and when you have read the last sentence and close the back cover, you feel as if you have taken a trip. Amy does that. It's a rare quality that has the ability to take your breath away.

I haven't read one word of her first novel, but I know that I am about to take a journey. I will not devour this book. I will savour each and every word.