These is my Words

If you like to read about the day to day life of people living in a different era, check this book out. These is my Words is based on the author's great-grandmother's life. The time period is 1881-1901 and takes place in the Arizona Territories. Sarah Agnes Prine did not actually leave a diary, but Nancy E. Turner, the author, wrote the book as if it was a diary.

Sarah is in her teens when the story starts and is in her mid or upper thirties at the end of the book. These years cover her marriage, the birth of her children, the deaths of loved ones and challenges that must be faced.

Whenever I read books of this sort, I am reminded of how easy life is for me today. If I want to cook something, I turn on the oven or stove, no getting a fire going. If I am chilly I put on more clothes or turn up the furnace. I did not have to make the clothes first. The fact that I can read a book and blog (or write) about it is a privilege that many people did not have one hundred years ago. A free education was not available in all places. If I want to go some where I jump in the van or the King's truck or the Princess's car and go. I don't have to walk every where or hitch up the horses. If someone in my family is sick we can get to a doctor quickly. I don't have to try to figure out what is wrong with them and then heal them on my own. I don't have to try to get to a doctor and hope he can get back to our home and hope that the sick one is still alive after waiting a few hours or a few days.

As I am typing I realize how much I take for granted. I try to remember to thank God for my many blessings on a regular basis, but I know I forget to be thankful for so many things.