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Some Backstory about the new book, Waiting with Elmer
In the fictional town of Waitnsee, I saw the Savings and Loan at the end of the street, the big green mailbox, the bakery, the door in the storefront that led upstairs to Doctor Reed’s office where I got my shots. There’s a hospital on the hill, and sidewalks teeming with people. There’s the train track that runs along Main Street, blowing its whistle at every crossing. I was there. The town I grew up in was in southwestern Michigan, quite a distance from Waitnsee. But, we were all waiting to see what life would throw our way. We were all waiting for something to happen, something to change, make a move; we watched the trains come and go, managed the monotony of our lives, cared about our community, and tried to make it better for everyone. The town of Waitnsee, was very much like the town I grew up in, and I think long-time and former residents will recognize it. Others may find their own home towns were a lot like Waitnsee, in another time and place.
Some of the things that happen in Willy’s life were actually things that happened in my dad’s young life, in the same town. Things he told me about, like how it felt to be left out, laughed at, never quite “good enough.” He told me about the roller rink that used to sit in a big tent on the outskirts of town where all the boys went on Saturday night to skate and show off for the girls. That roller rink comes to the town of Waitnsee. I’ve seen pictures of Dad in his cap and overalls.
The train used to come by my house rattling the pictures on the wall every hour when I was a girl. We always knew what time it was. I have a vivid memory of the summer day when everyone was running to the crossing and we watched a circus train bringing animals and tents to town. In my book, the curiosity is the orphan train. Dad told me how he first left town as a soldier; it was on the train, his first time to leave home and family; how homesick he was, like Willy in my book. He told me how he and mom carried colicky me on the train to his next posting and the conductor said, “The soldier with the baby, you board first.” Maybe it was the first time for Dad that he was ever “first.” Maybe it was my dad’s memories that appear on the train as Willy takes care of the feverish baby. The small depot in our town was a few blocks from my house. I saw people get on and off and saw cartons of goods loaded to go somewhere. The depot is gone now, but it was still there when I walked past it to go to high school. I saw the hobos hiding out behind it warming themselves in the burn barrels. So, it isn’t such a stretch that I could write about the train and the depot and they become so important to the story.
Monday I’ll tell you about some of the characters in the book, and where they came from.