And the Whippoorwill Sang by Micki Peluso

All I could see was splashing around the overturned canoe-and then a small figure literally “walking on water” as fast as her legs could carry her to shore. I stood on the pier, horrified, watching as the canoe capsized and they all went under. Butch was calling out to those paddling, “stroke, stroke,” when Noelle decided she wanted to stand up. He then took the three younger girls out, but stayed close to the shoreline. I paced the riverbank watching for their safe return. Some experiences don’t warrant repeating.īutch and the boys paddled all the way to the rapids near the bridge. The river whispered a serenity which belied its treacherous steep drops and swirling eddies. I climbed into the tippy canoe as he paddled across-the canoe rocking from side to side. I couldn’t swim and we had no life jackets. Butch managed to convince me to take a ride with him across the width of the river. The girls, afraid of fish nibbling at their toes, passed on that. The boys explored the woods while I dangled my feet off the small pier on the river bank.

I packed an ice chest of picnic food and blankets and off we headed to the Susquehanna River. He tied the canoe to the top of the station wagon. Since working out of State, we did more family things than when he’d worked in town. And the Whippoorwill Sangīutch bought a bright red canoe that summer. The family embarls upon its unbearable journey to the other side of grief ans grasps the poignant gift of life as they begin. Pne of her six children is fighting for her life in the hospital: in a semi-coma, hovering between this world and the next. Micki narrates happier days, using their delightfulpast to confront an uncertain future-as the family copes with fear and apprehension. It occurs just blocks from the family's hunmdred year old haunted farmhouse, on a country lane. There has been a terrible accident in the placid valley nestled in the Susquehanna Mountains in th etown of Williamsport, Pennsylvania. the couple share wonderfully comical escapades spanning decades, until tragedy strikes. This memoir opens with eloping teenagers, Micki and Butch, in a bizarre double ceremony with Micki's mother. To Weep, To Laugh, To Grieve, to Dance, as the whippoorwill sang. The family embarks upon a journey to the other side of grief as they learn.

One of the six children is struck down by a drunk driver and the mother recounts the story through flashbacks in the ICU of the hospital, awaiting the fate of her child. It's full of adventure, a haunted home, comedic antics and a wonderful life- until tragedy strikes in the placid valley of the Susquehanna Mountains. This is a funny, poignant, sad, true story of a large family of eight.

And the Whippoorwill Sang by Micki Peluso