--and the Meadowlark Sang

Stories are blessings and with this volume of memoirs, Margaretha Willms leaves a legacy of gifts for future generations. This collection of stories radiates the simplicity of a carefree childhood of growing up and changing with the seasons of life, a reminder of the repetition and rhythm of nature on the prairies and the assurance of a coming spring when the meadowlark sings once again. Deep in every family background are the ethnic and religious values of their ancestors and it is important to preserve them by passing on stories connected to the places where those values found fullness in everyday living. Margaretha writes, "A person is bound to their place of birth, to the home of their childhood, to the graves of their parents, and to customs and traditions even if only in memory" and history is a journey into that memory. In recording moments of time about living through the hardships of the Great Depression, she often finds humour in describing what seem in their proper perspective, to lend themselves to rather amusing explorations. Her story is told with candid, unflinching honesty, giving a glimpse of Mennonite social and religious traditions that made life unique. Margaretha's sensitive portrayal of country schools in which her husband taught in the 1950s revives the spirit of rural schools as the heart and soul and pulse of every community in their time. Something of the prairies survives in the melody of the meadowlark and the stories in Margaretha Willms' book are also sustained for the future, memories of the past, too full of life to be forgotten.