Happy Birthday, Grandma

I don't know whether she was born first or not, but on March 31, 1915, my darling grandmother, Lois Thomas Wright Brown, entered this world with her twin brother, Louis (called Bud). Shortly after this photo was taken,

my grandma ran away to marry her beau. She ended up raising 4 daughters by herself, working two jobs to make ends meet. People think the character, Hattie, in Hattie Big Sky was inspired by my great-grandmother. Well, yes, I was inspired to write HBS after learning my great-gram did homestead in eastern Montana all by herself. But it is the indomitable Lois Brown upon whom Hattie is modeled.

I miss her like crazy.