For ten years, before and after WWII, my maternal great-grandmother kept a daily diary about her life on a farm in Forest Grove, Oregon. A widow and mother to eight children, Mary's days revolved around her family, farm, neighbors, and her church. It was a life intact and so remotely different from how people live today. Mary's simple words are inspiring. By reading them, she takes us back to her farm and to a life free from the struggles we suffer in the modern world.

Read the autobiography of Mattie's beloved uncle and learn how he brought her to San Francisco after her year of captivity with the Pawnee. This is a fictional story, of course, and part of the novel: Dreams along the Upside-Down River.

Read the autobiography of Mattie's beloved uncle and learn how he brought her to San Francisco after her year of captivity with the Pawnee. This is a fictional story, of course, and part of the novel: Dreams along the Upside-Down River.