by Ivan Doig

I do love a good story told from the perspective of a child. A Sixty-two-year-old looks back on an amazing year of his childhood in which many life-changing occurrences occurred and several people entered his life, some to never leave. Some to leave and come back. Some to leave and stay in touch, some to leave and never return. At the end, we learn what became of the most beloved characters and why he is telling this tale at this time. I would have loved to know more, though, before I parted ways with the characters.

This is a story that made me smile, wonder, and produced a lump in my from both anxiety and emotion. It’s a mostly gentle tale of a boy being raised by his father, the owner and bartender of an iconic saloon in Montana. I loved that we are given several hints that everything was going to be all right in the end, even though bad things were sure to happen. It allowed me to enjoy the scene and the people of this endearing slice of Americana. I listened to it and enjoyed the narrator reading the voices and vernacular of days gone by.

September 14, 2020