Tuesday, September 28, 2021

Sitting in "Mildred's Garden" with Laura Boggess


Mildred Ruffner lives in a small town in West Virginia, not far from Charleston. She and a food friend are preparing to open a bed-and-breakfast and retreat center, with a highlight being a beautiful garden. The garden provides a respite from a 15-year-old pain – being abandoned by the boy she thought she’d spend the rest of her life wife. 

Sam Gillenwater is a Nashville singer, doing so well that his newest album is considered a top contender for a Grammy. He’s preparing for a tour when his “sort-of” girlfriend Heather overdoses on heroin in Sam’s apartment and is hospitalized. They both had known their relationship, once close, was going nowhere. 


Mildred and Sam had met face-to-face once, at one of Sam’s concerts. But their relationship begins to grow on Instagram, after Sam almost impulsively follows Mildred on the platform, something he reserves for only the closest of friends and family. Something begins to emerge in their posts and messages to each other, and that something is romance. And soon they’ll discover they share something powerful – a national heritage.


To continue reading, please see my post today at Tweetspeak Poetry.

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