W a c o n i a , M N
f o r w a r d
My mom once told me that she doesn’t have a whole lot of photographs from her past. She said it with a longing in her voice that didn’t escape my notice. The funny thing is that the hundreds of stories she has told me over the past 25 years have not exactly escaped my notice either. I treasure those stories deeply, but I fear the persistent waves of forgetfulness will slowly and silently wash away not only my treasure but the treasure of the daughters, nieces, and granddaughters I hope to have some day.
As I collected the stories for this book, two things became apparent. First, my treasure has been entrusted to me by numerous authoresses who I infinitely admire and for whose presence in my life I give thanks to God. And second, that my most prized treasures are those stories which tell my feminine past, or in other words, tell the stories of women whose ability, capacity, and choice to love, has brought about my present - my reality.
While I am proud to call myself an artist, I do not for a single second pretend to be a skilled storyteller like my grandmother, mother, or aunts. The stories you’ll find gracing the following pages are intentionally short, one-sentence to be exact. I will not put words in the mouths of talented storytellers. What I will do, however, is scribe the barest of thoughts to spark the memories of those who hold the story and the curiosity of those who do not.
At a glance, it seems a quick read, but I hope that at some providential point in time, this book will be pulled off of a dusty shelf and read in the presence of others, of those who themselves lived these plots, of those who carry the fragile past, and of those who have yet to discover the beauty and wisdom of their own feminine history contained in its pages. Read this book together to fill in gaps that still remain and to plug the holes that should never exist in the hearts and minds of our future successors.
Since these stories are often told in no particular order, I present them here in no particular order.
Thank you. I love you. Enjoy.
Angela Dimler
