Hot Apple Cider
In 2008, I had the privilege of being the creator, co-editor, and publisher of a terrific book called Hot Apple Cider: Words to Warm the Soul and Stir the Heart. This book includes articles, stories and poems from 30 Canadian authors who all write from a Christian faith perspective.
Hot Apple Cider is now a Canadian bestseller.
This is the opening to the first of two pieces in it that I wrote:
The other guests at the birthday party appeared to be having a wonderful time. I was counting the minutes until I could go home and read a book or design more clothes for my paper dolls. As soon as we’d eaten the birthday cake, I said I had to leave early. Dressed in my best party dress and my white sandals, carrying a little basket of candy and trinkets, I fought to hold back the tears that started the moment I closed the door.
Our house was on the outskirts of town, and to reach it I had to cross a set of railway tracks. I stopped and walked along the rails. By now, I was sobbing in earnest, and I didn’t want my parents to see—didn’t want them to worry. I also was trying to figure out why I wasn’t like other people. For a moment, I thought it might be a huge relief if a train would come along and erase the pain.
It was 1955, and I was seven years old.
To read the rest, you’ll need a copy of Hot Apple Cider.
