If you’ve been reading the trilogy of Mararet’s Faith, Gracie’s Babies and now Lottie’s Legacy, you will know that family is a key element throughout the stories. In fact, it is family that links these three women as Margaret is the mother of Gracie and Lottie.

We walk with these ladies as they start and raise families. We see them in all the troubles and trials we face in our own lives. While there were flesh-and-blood women who inspired these books, ultimately the characters are just that – fictional characters. Yet the daily struggles are as true as any history book.

In Gracie’s Babies, we saw Lottie happily married to Daniel Ingle. We even learned of her growing family, and the heartbreak when not all of her pregnancies ended well. Gracie was touched by the faith and love she saw in her sweet little sister and jovial brother-in-law.

As we open Lottie’s Legacy, many years have passed. Those children we met in Gracie’s Babies have grown up and their number has increased. This family is, I believe, typical of most with some children faithfully following their parents’ teaching and others rebelling. Some of the Ingle children are sweet and dear while others are self-absorbed or embittered. Does any of this sound familiar to you, as it does for me?

Lottie Ingle is presented a little later in life than the other protagonists were. She has young children still at home while her oldest children are married with families of their own. While not unheard of today, this was perfectly normal a hundred years ago.

Many of Lottie and Daniel’s children have settled close to home and still frequently return to visit their parents. Family continues to be a high priority for these new families and they manage to gather with their many siblings as well.

In this book, we see Lottie and Daniel in a vulnerable situation and they truly need support. They find that from their children and grandchildren as well as extended family of aunts, uncles and cousins. Much of the neighborhood is related and the neighbors show concern and willingness to help as well.

These are elements that I long for in our world today. Our families seem to have spread out across the country – and sometimes overseas. We are so busy we can hardly answer the phone much less go sit together for a few hours and just spend time together. It is my hope that the time you spend reading Lottie’s Legacy will be like a visit with this dear family. I hope you will call your sister or write a letter to the aunt you treasure but never hear from.

In my family and neighborhood, it seems like we have lost so many members of late. I sound old when I say it, but I drive down the roads and think about the homeplaces that are either now empty or occupied by strangers. Hug the ones you love, take time to sit down with a cup of coffee and an old friend.

Please, enjoy Lottie and Daniel, Delcie, Ova, Ida, Mary and Cecil. I give them to you for an inspiration.