This week we welcome Sandra Orchard to Author Memories.
Sandra Orchard lives in rural Ontario, Canada where inspiration abounds for her romantic suspense novels set in the fictional Niagara town she's created as their backdrop.
Married with three grown children, when not writing, she enjoys hanging out with family, brainstorming new stories with fellow writers, and walking her dog in God's beautiful creation.
She loves to connect with readers, and has created some “novel extras” to enhance readers’ experience of her books.
Married with three grown children, when not writing, she enjoys hanging out with family, brainstorming new stories with fellow writers, and walking her dog in God's beautiful creation.
She loves to connect with readers, and has created some “novel extras” to enhance readers’ experience of her books.
No Time To Wave Goodbye
by Sandra Orchard
Both of my parents were born in England shortly before the outbreak of WWII. They immigrated with their families to Canada in the 1950s and met some years later. What a scary prospect it must have been to leave behind all that they’d known to come to a country where they knew no one. Yet, my parents never talked about it. My dad didn’t want us to worry that we might face the same kind of horrors.
You see my mom was evacuated from London during the war. Torn from her home, she and some of her brothers and sisters were loaded onto trains and shipped to the country. In the last months before my mom died, I asked her to tell me about that time.
She said that they’d stayed at one place where the adults were very nice. It sounded like a children’s home by the number of children who were there. Her most vivid memory (one she had trotted out a few times when I was a child and asked for more water in the bathtub) was of sharing the same two inches of bath water with all the children, one after another. She also remembered standing on a cliff, looking over the landscape when the wind picked her up. If her sister hadn’t grabbed her in time, my mom was certain she’d have blown away.
The second home she was placed in wasn’t as pleasant. Five children shared the same bed, alternating head to toe. My mom was five and scared of the family’s dog. They had no indoor plumbing so going to the bathroom in the middle of the night was an ordeal. More than once she had an accident, which infuriated the mother of the house. When Mom’s parents traveled down from London to visit and heard what was going on, they took my mom home with them and wouldn’t let the authorities send her away again.
You see my mom was evacuated from London during the war. Torn from her home, she and some of her brothers and sisters were loaded onto trains and shipped to the country. In the last months before my mom died, I asked her to tell me about that time.
She said that they’d stayed at one place where the adults were very nice. It sounded like a children’s home by the number of children who were there. Her most vivid memory (one she had trotted out a few times when I was a child and asked for more water in the bathtub) was of sharing the same two inches of bath water with all the children, one after another. She also remembered standing on a cliff, looking over the landscape when the wind picked her up. If her sister hadn’t grabbed her in time, my mom was certain she’d have blown away.
The second home she was placed in wasn’t as pleasant. Five children shared the same bed, alternating head to toe. My mom was five and scared of the family’s dog. They had no indoor plumbing so going to the bathroom in the middle of the night was an ordeal. More than once she had an accident, which infuriated the mother of the house. When Mom’s parents traveled down from London to visit and heard what was going on, they took my mom home with them and wouldn’t let the authorities send her away again.
My grandmother is pushing the wheelchair, my great-grandmother is in the wheelchair, and my mom is sitting on her lap. The picture is taken in London England (note the double decker bus in the background).
My mom shared that story with me when my daughter was struggling with nighttime accidents. Mom emphasized how important it was to not make a big deal about it. I so wish she’d been around for many more years to teach me such nuggets of wisdom, but cancer stole her from us not many months later.
After her death, I read the book No Time to Wave Goodbye by Ben Wicks about children evacuated from London during the war, so named because oftentimes the children were shuffled out of the city so quickly that there was no time for goodbyes.
Reading the book, I felt as if I’d stepped into my mother’s past and was seeing her life from a whole new perspective. What a gift parents give their children when they share their family history.
After her death, I read the book No Time to Wave Goodbye by Ben Wicks about children evacuated from London during the war, so named because oftentimes the children were shuffled out of the city so quickly that there was no time for goodbyes.
Reading the book, I felt as if I’d stepped into my mother’s past and was seeing her life from a whole new perspective. What a gift parents give their children when they share their family history.
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GIVEAWAY!
Leave a comment with a valid email address by midnight, Mar 11th
to be entered in a draw for a copy of
Sandra Orchard's latest release, Shades of Truth.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY!
Leave a comment with a valid email address by midnight, Mar 11th
to be entered in a draw for a copy of
Sandra Orchard's latest release, Shades of Truth.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shades of Truth, Love Inspired Suspense, March 2011
Big city detective Ethan Reed is working deep undercover at a Christian youth detention center. The kind of place he spent some harrowing time in as a kid. Ethan’s mission: ferret out who’s recruiting resident teens for a drug ring. He expects help from the lovely, devoted director of Hope Manor.
But Kim Corbett won’t tell Ethan anything— even when she’s threatened and attacked.
When Ethan discovers what Kim is protecting, his guarded heart opens just a bit wider. Enough to make this the most dangerous assignment of his career.
Read Excerpt
But Kim Corbett won’t tell Ethan anything— even when she’s threatened and attacked.
When Ethan discovers what Kim is protecting, his guarded heart opens just a bit wider. Enough to make this the most dangerous assignment of his career.
Read Excerpt
Undercover Cops:
Fighting for justice puts their lives—and hearts—on the line.
Book 1 - Deep Cover, Sept 2011
Book 2 - Shades of Truth, Mar 2012
Book 3 - Critical Condition, coming Oct 2012
Check out these and other resources for both readers and writers at Sandra's website: http://www.SandraOrchard.com.
For updates on new releases, special subscriber-only reads and giveaway opportunities, sign up for Sandra's newsletter at http://bit.ly/OrchardNews
Sandra would love for you to connect at: http://www.Facebook.com/SandraOrchard
Join in the conversations about characters on Sandra's blog at http://www.SandraOrchard.blogspot.com
Fighting for justice puts their lives—and hearts—on the line.
Book 1 - Deep Cover, Sept 2011
Book 2 - Shades of Truth, Mar 2012
Book 3 - Critical Condition, coming Oct 2012
Check out these and other resources for both readers and writers at Sandra's website: http://www.SandraOrchard.com.
For updates on new releases, special subscriber-only reads and giveaway opportunities, sign up for Sandra's newsletter at http://bit.ly/OrchardNews
Sandra would love for you to connect at: http://www.Facebook.com/SandraOrchard
Join in the conversations about characters on Sandra's blog at http://www.SandraOrchard.blogspot.com
