I read both of these books before I was 21.

The first I read in fourth grade. Sasha, My Friend by Barbara Corcoran. This book is about a little girl who moves to Montana with her dad after her mom dies in a car crash. They live on a Christmas tree farm in Northwest Montana. After reading this book, I decided I was going to move to Montana. All through High School I received Montana Magazine in the mail and although I can’t say I ever read any of the articles, I devoured the pictures. When I was 21 I moved to Missoula to attend the University of Montana. My junior year, I got a job for a private contractor planting trees for the USFS. I met my husband on a mountain and the rest is history. Coincidentally we live on 20 acres of Christmas Trees less then 50 miles from where Hallie the girl in Sasha My Friend lives in Montana…

The second book was Laura Lisle’s Portrait of an Artist: A Biography of Georgia O’Keeffe.  This biography not only introduced me to one of the greatest artists of all time, but Georgia’s move across the country to Texas and then eventually Sante Fe, not only inspired me to move out west but gave me the courage to do it. I left for Montana less then a year after reading this novel.

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