"I never knew my birth mother...."

I never knew my birth mother, just of her, and had a couple of brief encounters with her. I was not permitted to know her by my father. I began my ancestral search after I learned of her death, and found her ashes in a woman’s closet in Kentucky. She had kept them 8 years. My mother had kept her two daughters a secret, as she went on to live her life without them, after my father divorced her during the war years. She was just 17 1/2 years old when my 33 year old father married her on the way off to war from Tennessee. I have read John Prather’s book and Sharon Doliante’s book, which were so wonderful. Orphan’s Gift put so much personality and understanding into the documentations. It is a beautifully written novel that gives Prather ancestors the feeling that they are feeling their lives as they were lived. My ancestors did not go into Ohio, so the first third of the book only applied, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book until the beautiful end. Thank you so much for writing this book.

I am from the direct line of John Smith Prather, Aaron’s brother.

Your cousin,

Linda Stone