They did it; they finished!

Congratulations to two of my clients—Lucille Ellson and Barbara Powell—for finishing their writing projects and having great books to show for their efforts.

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Lucille Ellson and her husband Floyd began writing the story of his 104 years of life as a farm boy, sailor, educator, school administrator, husband, father, and friend in 2011, but unfortunately, Floyd passed away not long after we started working on his story.

After a break for a couple of years, Lucille, Floyd’s bride of sixty-nine years, picked the project back up and saw it to completion. She said she finished the book because she knew the first thing Floyd was going to ask when he saw her in heaven was, “Did you finish my book?”

Well, Lucille, you can tell him about the great job you did and how My First Hundred Years is now available for his four children, many grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and all the little Ellsons to come.

What made this book even more special was that Floyd’s grandson, Gregory Hettinger, designed a beautiful cover that highlighted some important aspects of his grandfather’s life.

Well done, Lucille.

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Barbara Powell grew interested in writing her personal and family history when she first heard a relative say her grandmother was a gypsy.

She took a deep dive into genealogy to trace her family’s roots in hopes of learning if the story was true or just a family myth. She found out her grandmother was, in fact, a gypsy, and Barbara inherited the white ceramic cup she used to read tea leaves.

In her book, Barborka, pet name from the Slovak language, meaning my sweet little Barbie that her grandfather called her, Barbara writes about her grandparents and their histories as well as stories about her own childhood, young adult years, marriage, children, traveling, being a grandmother, and more. She wrote the book in hopes of giving her children and grandchildren a sense of history.

Fantastic job, Barbara. I know your family will love reading these stories.