Women of the Wind
A True Story of Abandonment,
Abduction, and Abuse and the
Women Who Survived It All
Women of the Wind
A True Story of Abandonment,
Abduction, and Abuse and the
Women Who Survived It All
Women of the Wind
A True Story of Abandonment,
Abduction, and Abuse and the
Women Who Survived It All
Women of the Wind is the gripping true story of three generations of women born into dire circumstances like dandelion seeds blowing aimlessly. Possessing the inherent strength to endure and begin anew, The Women of the Wind not only survived these harsh conditions, they grew and flourished like beautiful dandelion flowers.
Please enjoy the music from Angela’s husband that was made just for this book while you visit the website.
Women of the Wind
La Lula
Praise for Women of the Wind
“I was in awe of the amount of research and devotion the author put into this book. She writes with such joy and ease and grace. Readers will be captivated by the astounding stories of Mildred, Heber, and Lula!”
— David Aretha
award-winning author and editor
“Lucky is the family that has a story-keeper who listens carefully to the elders and then curates the stories to ensure their survival. This family history is a blessing to kinfolk and professional historians alike, with its archetypal survivors, helpmeets, and rogues mean as a snake — all presented before the backdrop that was twentieth-century Georgia history. This book sets some important stories and some important precedents: the family that is honest with each other about the past is better equipped for human flourishing in the future.”
— Cynthia Shearer
award-winning author of two novels set in the South, The Wonder Book of the Air and The Celestial Jukebox
“I am bound to them,
though I cannot look into their eyes or hear their voices.
I honor their history. I cherish their lives.
I will tell their story. I will remember them.”
—Author unknown
My cat, Miss Lou, named after my great-grandmother Lula, remained by my side every day for six months while I wrote the rough draft for this book until she passed away at twenty years old. With Lula’s portrait above me and Miss Lou beside me, I felt them both cheering me on to write.
Letter to the Reader
I have wanted to write this book for as long as I can remember because I loved hearing stories my mother told me about her family, and I understood the importance of preserving them. Over the years, as my mother shared her memories, my sister-in-law Nancy and I recorded them on cassette tapes and tucked them away for safekeeping. We had no plans to do anything with the recordings except maybe play them for our children someday.
But after my mother passed away in 2013, I knew I could not let her family history die with her. Two years ago, I began transcribing hours of conversations that either Nancy or I had with my mother. With court documents, ancestry records, family members’ interviews, and my mother’s written words, I slowly began to weave the narrative that is now The Women of the Wind.
As I transcribed these words my mother spoke twenty years ago: “I realize now that my memories and Aunt Bell’s memories may pass down to generations to come, your children’s children, and their children and on because that’s a keepsake,” I thought: I will pass down your keepsake, Mama.
Angela Gail Griffin, 2022
Meet Angela Gail Griffin
Angela Gail Griffin is a lifelong resident of Georgia and currently lives near the Georgia Writers Museum and the Uncle Remus Museum. Three of Georgia’s most beloved authors, Alice Walker, Flannery O’Connor, and Joel Chandler Harris, began their writing careers within twenty miles of her hometown. Angela finds it fortuitous that her dream of putting pen to paper to share the enthralling family stories passed down by her mother came true on Georgia writers’ hallowed ground.
Meet Angela Gail Griffin
Angela Gail Griffin is a lifelong resident of Georgia and currently lives near the Georgia Writers Museum and the Uncle Remus Museum. Three of Georgia’s most beloved authors, Alice Walker, Flannery O’Connor, and Joel Chandler Harris, began their writing careers within twenty miles of her hometown. Angela finds it fortuitous that her dream of putting pen to paper to share the enthralling family stories passed down by her mother came true on Georgia writers’ hallowed ground.