Page 26 - Publishing Inspiration Christmas Card 2014

to live, I knew exactly what to say.

“I want to live in a place where the

population is small enough so that if someone
addresses a letter to me, and all they put on the

envelope is my name, the town, the state, and

the zip, I will still get it.”
She laughed. “That is impossible. You

know very well that won’t happen anywhere.”

I could not convince her that I felt it would.
Nonetheless, despite our major differences, we

married. We spent many years with me going
to college, and finally returned to live in Idaho

in a very small, rural community.

Then came the day that I started writing
short stories. Over the years my stories have

gradually reached a wider and wider audience

through hundreds of newspapers and magazines
across the U.S., Canada, and other parts of the

world. A few of my stories have even run in
magazines with millions of readers.

One day, after one of my stories ran in one

of those magazines, I came home to a surprise.
As I walked in the door, Donna handed me a

letter. It was from a lady who said she was an

older woman who enjoyed one of my stories

22