Goshen News columnist releases family history memoir
Feb. 20—GOSHEN — Her column ended in December, but long-time Another Way columnist Melodie Miller Davis isn't leaving her writing behind entirely. In November, she published a book of memoirs of her family, "Cultivating Fields, Family and Faith: Mom and Dad's Memorable Mennonite Life," chronicling the lives her of siblings Nancy Ketcham, Pert Shetler, Terry Miller, and Davis and their parents Vernon Miller, of Emma, and Bertha Stauffer, of Wakarusa.
Vernon was a deacon at North Goshen Mennonite Church for 18 years, and helped to launch the Christian Rural Overseas Program, and Bertha grew up in the Olive Mennonite Church near Wakarusa.
"My siblings kind of let me take hold and they contributed," Davis said.
Davis was a columnist based out of Harrisonburg, Virginia, and formerly of Goshen, Indiana, for 36 years before retiring from the industry last year.
Davis' dad died in 2006, and her mom passed away in 2021.
"Nancy, in those last years, she was the only one of us siblings who lived near mom and dad enough to help them," Davis recalled.
The preface of the book boasts a Madeleine L'Engle quote:
"If you don't recount your family history, it will be lost. Honor your own stories and tell them too. The tales may not seem very important, but they are what binds families and makes each of us who we are."
"To me, that encapsulated what I hoped this book to do," Davis said.
All four of her siblings also contributed stories to the book, even including stories others had forgotten or never knew about.
"There were a lot of good stories there that if we hadn't had those to go on, I wouldn't have been able to put some of the things in the book that I did," Davis said.
Davis explained that in addition to their own stories, the book discusses stories based on mom and dad's journals, and stories from other family members that Davis kept track of.
"I think when families get into writing family histories or memories like this, sometimes people talk about how they tried to tell everything," Davis said. "They told the good, the bad, and the ugly, and I knew I didn't want to do that. We've had our share of struggles, each one of us kids, and Mom and Dad too, but we made the decision not to include the bad things. I didn't want this to be a conflict in the family at all. I wanted the participation of all the siblings."
Davis, the author of nearly 12 books, said she knew that because of the focus of the book, a big publishing company wouldn't be likely to release it, so it was released by Kindle Direct Publishing by Amazon.
"Memoirs like this and family histories are basically interesting, the most, to family members and cousins and whatnot," Davis said. It's a little over 100 pages.
Davis was grateful to be able to complete the project with all of her siblings, noting that not all siblings in a family survive into their age.
"Organizing the material to make sense to people that don't know much about you or your family, that was the biggest challenge for me because I had so many things that I wanted to put in but I didn't know where to put them," Davis said.
"Cultivating Fields, Family and Faith: Mom and Dad's Memorable Mennonite Life," is available on Amazon. Those interested in buying the book without the use of the Internet may contact Davis directly at P.O. Box 363, Singers Glen, VA 22580, with a check for $18 plus $4 postage.
Dani Messick is the education and entertainment reporter for The Goshen News. She can be reached at dani.messick@goshennews.com or at 574-538-2065.
