Mason’s Diary

As we basked in the warm sunlight, we chatted about happenings in our nation. When I mentioned that Mrs. Roosevelt had just visited a coal mine in Ohio the day before, Nellie expressed her admiration for Eleanor Roosevelt and her desire to meet her someday. I said, “Well, if anyone could charm Mrs. Roosevelt, it’s you, Nellie!” 

While she raved about what the president’s wife has been doing in our country and around the world, I started planning how I would engineer Nellie to have some time at the White House before summer was over.

I realized I had been wrapped up in my own thoughts when Nellie paused shuffled toward me on her knees, and leaned her head against my shoulder. 

“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” I murmured. “I wasn’t being attentive. Would you mind repeating what you last said?”

“I understand, Mason.  So many things must be weighing on your mind.  I am going to say a prayer for you – and for our first lady.”

There, surrounded by picnicking families who had hiked up the mountain from Scranton, Nellie bowed her head in prayer, beseeching God to keep all the Glen Alden Mines safe so that I might have peace of mind.  She prayed for the Roosevelts as they attempt to lead our country through the depression we are in.  With the sound of children playing tag and a group of young men playing catch, she continued to intercede for random people she hadn’t even met – from the Lindberghs whose baby was recently kidnapped to families devastated by the Harlem riots to hundreds of families still recuperating from the Dust Bowl Storms.  My Nellie has a heart that often puts me to shame as I often cannot see past the needs of my own circumstances.

After we finished our lunch and put our leavings back into the picnic basket, I tried to stop a yawn.  The shadows made by the leaves dancing in the afternoon sun seemed to be putting me in a trance.

Nellie giggled and motioned toward a nearby family whose father had fallen asleep sprawled out on a tablecloth while his wife kept her eye on their children.  “It must be catching.  Why don’t you take a snooze so you will have the energy to be more romantic later this afternoon – and maybe even find the steam to hike up to the fish hatchery.”

I didn’t take offense.  Nellie knows it is nothing for me to hike miles up the valley underground during mine inspections.   She also understands my burdens, supporting my mother and two sisters as the youngest director of a national mining company.  I acquiesced when she grabbed a novel from her bag, leaned against the maple, and patted her thigh invitingly.  I lay my head on her lap, and with her one hand running fingers gently through my hair and her other holding Murder on the Orient Express above me, I soon fell asleep.

As the afternoon turned to evening, we explored the mountain hand-in-hand, eventually passing by the row of chicken coops above the children’s ward. Ever the humorist, Nellie made jokes about the chickens strutting around, saying, “Look at them, Mason! They think they own West Mountain and the whole valley below!” Her laughter was contagious, and I couldn’t stop grinning.

I hope you enjoyed seeing one of Mason Peale and Nellie O’Dwyer’s dates through Mason’s eyes. The West Mountain Sanitarium is a setting in Nellie, one of the novels in the Apron Strings series.

One cookbook connects them all…
Nellie ~ Book Two in a string of heartfelt inspirational stories, featuring different women throughout the decades from 1920 to 2020.

Finances are tight for the O’Dwyer family who live on a mountain outside of Scranton, Pennsylvania in 1931. Life gets even harder when their beloved Dadaí must cease work as a coal miner to become a patient at the West Mountain Sanitarium.

Nellie is her preferred name, but family and friends have heard Mam shout “Fenella Aileen O’Dwyer!” all too often with the countless predicaments she got herself into throughout childhood. So, it’s not altogether surprising when Nellie impulsively accepts a job as an assistant cook at the Clarinda House in a case of mistaken identity — though she’s the last person her family would ask to prepare a meal.

Fortunately, along with determination, a talent for acting, and the gift of blarney, Nellie has Mrs. Canfield’s Cookery Book, a treasure she discovered at a Red Cross drought relief sale. As her reluctant admiration for her employer grows, Nellie wishes she could be the truthful woman of faith that Mr. Mason Peale esteems. If she confesses all, will she lose her job along with the friendships she’s formed at Clarinda House?

The West Mountain Sanitarium was a wonderful place of healing for people with tuberculosis for several decades. In the early 20th century, doctors from around the world came to tour the state-of-the-art facilities and learn from Pennsylvania doctors because their methods were ahead of their time.

I had the privilege of investigating the ruins many times — and having a picnic tea party within the ruins of the hospital almost a century later than Nellie took place — with my dear friends Terri and Shannon.

I shared much of my research into the history of West Mountain Sanitarium on Lackawanna Past Times. Here is the link: https://youtu.be/pAawD1c8zn8?si=lGzKFQiKhEStk7jq

I also shared much of my research and personal explorations within a fictional account of two young women at the sanitarium but eighty years apart in my novel, Voices in the Sanitorium. https://www.amazon.com/Voices-Sanitorium-Amy-Lynn-Walsh-ebook/dp/B09KNXXPB1/

Relocating from Manhattan, teenage Aislyn must adjust to life near the abandoned West Mountain Sanitarium. One night, Aislyn joins new friends in the old ruins — and seems to return home with a different personality. Not long after Aislyn purchases a diary written almost a century ago by Bridget, a young patient recovering from tuberculosis in the sanitarium, strange things begin to happen.

For a GIVEAWAY opportunity of some West Mountain Sanitarium bookish items, answer this question in a comment:

Why do you think Nellie picked a local hospital grounds as a place to have a date?

You are also invited to get dressed up and join characters from Through Thorny Ways on another special date at http://jenniferqhunt.com