I had the opportunity to review another Gwen Campbell ebook. In her book, “Always Going,” Gwen writes about the simple life and simple joys of small town country life. She had experienced a lot of happiness as a youth, such as enjoying the summer pleasures of feasting on wild ripe persimmons (that stained teeth, lips, and chin, but tasted so delicious that you always wanted to eat until your belly ached) sliding down sacks of feed (even though it would get her into trouble) and adventures shared with her beloved hound dog. Her hound dog was named June, and she said that a “child never had a better friend.” June was her tagalong, her buddy, in all activities, even in mischief. Gwen mentioned fondly her mother baking pies, large home cooked meals, and townfolk coming together for harvesting. She enjoyed life in a small town.
Unfortunately at such a young age she had also been witness to heavy themes, such as alcoholism in her family, death of family, pets, and acquaintances, insanity of relatives, firearms, poverty, and other pain. One frightening act Gwen experienced was arriving to the scene moments after an insane aunt stabbed her other aunt in the face, barely missing the eyes. It is crazy how much tragedy and hardship Gwen saw or experienced in her life. These experiences all happened by the young age of 6. She often did not know how to respond to these issues and tried to deal with them the best she could, one way she did this was by breath holding. Whenever she got the feeling something terrible was about to happen, she would clam up and hold her breath, wishing the bad would go away.
Thankfully, she was able to find comfort, love, and care in her mother who was with her through her travels. Her mother and 2 other family members were the “constants in her life”, her travel leaders and companions, and although she went “here, there, and everywhere like a tumbleweed blowing “she felt a comfort in them and felt at home. She was always going to a new place, and “home became people, not places.” She felt as if no place “could lay claim” to her. I am glad she had her mother and that she was able to find comfort amongst her frequent traveling and amongst the difficult times.
Gwen mentioned a time when a relative gave her some packets of seeds. She held onto those seeds and never planted them. She would often open the packets to look over them. They were a sense of comfort to her. She held onto them many years until her children later spread them out into the wind as the seeds were no longer usable. Gwen made an interesting quote, ““Seeds and children shouldn’t be wrapped up and hidden away too long. They won’t grow if they are.” She seemed to be saying that she feels that children need to experience life and not be too sheltered. Her extensive traveling helped her to grow and learn. She saw a lot and experienced a lot. I can understand how she feels children should not be sheltered, however, I would not have wanted my daughter to have experienced so much pain, violence, and heartache. Gwen must have been a strong girl to be able to handle all that she experienced. Her mother must have been a great comfort to her.
This is a true account of Gwen as a young girl as she travels over thousands of miles of southwest Texas, Oklahoma and California, during the 30’s and 40’s. She refers to her memories as parts of a movie. I can definitely see how her life could almost be a movie, lots of happiness, heartache, adventure, strife, violence, pain, and coming of age. With never a dull moment in her life, she writes down her memories with passion. She had remembered the good and the bad, and had learned much from her experiences. She soaked it all in and invites the reader into her past. She remembers as far back as age 4, an age of which she learned to grow up rather quickly from the adult experiences she had.
I enjoyed this ebook, it was never boring or slow moving. I was quite surprised at how much pain she experienced in her life, especially as a very young child. Gwen writes her experiences so vividly; I could almost envision being there with her in her travels as I read along.
Living to almost age 80, she wrote twenty fictional books, a collection of short stories and poems, children's books, and more in her lifetime. Gwen had a passion for life; she loved reading, writing, weaving and quilting. Gwen had set two goals in life, the first was to be a mom, and the second was to be a writer. Both goals were passionately obtained and accomplished. They are wonderful goals, and her children are very proud. This ebook was edited and published by her daughter and son in law.
I received this ebook for free in exchange for my honest and critical review.
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