On March 2023, I received a comment from TK, a reader outside WordPress, in this post dated August 2021.
I found a copy of this rolled up in the back closet shelf in an apartment I rented in Concord, NH in the 80s.
Wish I could post a picture of it here.
Had it framed and has moved with me across country 5 times!!!
I am the black sheep, so it inspired me.
I was thrilled to hear from her and contacted her via email to hear her story.
Funny you thought of gardening when reading it.
I read it thought it was all about inner strength.
Guess it was what I needed in life at that time.
I was in my early 20s in the 1980s living in Concord, NH.
I was moving out of my apartment after 2 years. My roommate was getting married and her fiance was moving in. I had introduced the two of them to each other.
My roommate was rather anal and I wanted to make sure I left the place clean.
I had gotten everything out of my closet but I heard something in way back of the top shelf. I got up on a chair and saw this paper rolled up and wrinkled in the very back of the shelf.
I asked my roommate if it was hers because it was her room before being mine. Nope, wasn’t hers.
I rolled it back up and it moved with me.
It stayed rolled up for over a decade and many apartments. But I had remembered it and kept telling myself about learning with every goodbye through the years.
I moved back to NM and unpacked all of my belongings and found this poem again!
I decided it was time to frame it and read it every day to give me the strength it gave me when I found it.
Well, I’m in my 60s now. It is still on my walls. I can’t tell you how many people I have shared it with through the years. They all needed it at that time in their life.
I’ve even had men copy it and change “grace of a woman” to “strength of a man”!!
Needless to say, it has helped many people in many ways. I am no different.
Thanks for putting up that blog.
What gives you direction in life?
The poem of Veronica Shoffstall gave me a new direction in life.
I was wondering who Ronnie was, where she was from, when was she born. I was searching for her online to see if she had written anything else. You can find anything online now!
Much to my disappointment, not much luck. I looked in obits. in NH first . . . nothing. Then I stumbled across your blog.
Let’s get this information out there! Who is Miss Veronica? When was she born? Where is she from? What did she end up doing in life?
I’ve wanted to know for 40 years. Let’s end this mystery!!!!
Thank you so much for your reply. In a long winded way, yes, you may share my image. LOL
TK
Photographs and Memories 