Remember to Forget

Jess and I took the day off to relax a bit, after he spent the morning fixing something on the back porch with his dad. We took Mia to an ice cream shop in Cecil for lunch. A "small" twist cone has about 4 inches of ice cream above the cone. A large has nearly a foot. The prices are low, and Mia loves getting pink ice cream for lunch. Then we dropped her off at my mom's for the night. We're going to check out another new church tomorrow, and we'd rather not bring her into a place we've never been ourselves. We took a quick drive out to my great-grandmother's home not too far away. The cousin who owned the home passed away, and his wife is having an auction there next weekend. She isn't selling the house, yet. It's a beautiful old farmhouse with a porch and lots of charm. I have no idea what in the inside looks like. We aren't close with that part of the family, so Mom and I are going to the auction in hopes of sneaking a peek. If she did sell it, I would love to be able to buy it. There's a small brook nearby, in fact the house is called Kelly Brook farm after it. There's lots of woods and yard. Jess and I are dreaming about our ideal home. The picture above is of the farm. The man on the far right is my great-great grandfather George Washington Piper. His wife Mary Grace stands on the far left. Closest to her is my great-grandmother Ethel Pearl.

Remember to Forget by Deborah Raney puts forth the tantalizing question: What would you do if you could escape from your life and be someone else? How far would you go to run away from who you are? New Yorker Maggie Anderson learns the answer to those questions when a carjacking gives her the chance to escape an abusive relationship. After the carjacker deposits her on the road in New Jersey, she accepts a ride from a stranger going west. Several strangers help her with rides, money and meals until she finds herself in Clayburn, Kansas. Calling herself Meg, she takes a room at the Wren's Nest Inn run by Wren Claus. "Meg" soon meets local contractor Trevor and sparks start to fly between them. But Maggie feels guilty for all of the lies she's told as Meg, and Trevor is trying to recover from the heartbreaking loss of his wife and young son. Yes, the ending may be a little predictable, but with Raney in the driver's seat, it's worth the ride. Maggie is believable as she tries to settle into her new life and accept the love of those around her, but it's a struggle because she has a hard time believing that she's worth loving. Wren, Trevor and the other friends she makes in town show her God's love through their own. The message is a good one, and Clayburn is a town full of stories that Raney is welcome to show me.