This week, I’ve been thinking about the ladies of Nine Mile.
I spent my Junior and Senior year living out at the Nine Mile Ranger Station. During that time, of course, I was an obstinate teenager and didn’t much care for anything - or anybody, and I especially didn’t give a second thought to ANY of my mom’s friends.
There is a small group of them who have been together now for 30 or 40 years. They don’t claim to be anything special or out of the ordinary. They haven’t been featured in books, fundraising calendars, Oprah, or any other recognizable source. What they have done is taught sunday school, attended school functions, stayed politically astute, joined book clubs, quilted, participated in the annual Nine Mile School House Christmas Market, had parties, climbed Squaw Peak, ice skated, laughed together, cried together, and cared about each other.
This year - when I opened my shop ... each and every one of them has made the voyage to find me, bring me stuff to sell, buy each others stuff, use my bathroom and leave their kind words of encouragement hanging in the air as they gather up their recycled purchases and drive away. Once again ... nothing particularly notable, but it means the world to me to know that they are all out there like mother hens - just caring.
This week, I received a shipment of these barbed wire hearts - appropriately named “Heartware” by their creator. For some reason - they remind me of my mentors from Nine Mile. - This unconventional collection of “Montana Valentines” epitomize their matchless style. To me they seem both charming and tough, simplistic, quirky and eclectic in their detail. Each of them unique, lovely and one of a kind.
Here is to the ladies of Nine Mile. The sweetest of all valentines!
Happy Birthday, Shirley!
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