Literary Evening

My mother’s favorite novel was “Christy” by Catherine Marshall. She passed the book on down to me when I was 12 years old. The novel is about a young teacher who moved to the Smoky Mountains to work in the back of a mountain among poverty and isolation. . My mom could relate to so many of the traditions and beliefs that this young teacher encountered. It was years later that “Christy” became a world famous tv series. I remember Mom and I were so excited when we realized the series was based on our favorite book. My son Dusty got a job in the Smoky Mountains this Spring and he found a house to rent in Del Rio, TN. It so happens that Del Rio is where the real Christy lived and worked. I found it so emotional that my son lived in the setting of our novel. I kept imagining what my mother would have said about that. My friend Marjorie and I had traveled through Tennessee camping several years ago and we visited the Del Rio area. It is beautiful. Today Troy Dustin and Jess took Chris and I up the mountain to the area where Christy actually lived and taught. Again, it was so emotional. I kept thinking of Mom and how much she would have loved visiting there.