Mary Ruth's Letter(2013)

Sarah Price

In Amish Circle Letters, follow the journey of a series of letters that pass through the Fisher family. As Amish do not use computers or cell phones to communicate, Amish women will often write circle letters, letters that they send to a list of addresses of people that they would like to include in the correspondence. Since they do not have access to photocopiers, the first person on the list will receive the letter, read it, and respond. That person sends both the first letter and their response to the second name on the list. This continues until the entire package of letters goes full-circle, returning to the original sender.

In Volume 9 of the 10 part series, Mary Ruth's Letter, Mary Ruth is trying to find a way to tell her parents about her big announcement but finds that it is harder than she imagined. She wonders if her apprehension has anything to do with the fact that Menno has been avoiding her. She worries that he has changed his mind. Miriam decides it is time for Mary Ruth to return home and sends a letter with Steve to Leah's farm. When no one can find Mary Ruth, Steve leaves the letter with Rachel and heads over to visit Mimi. Yet, something distracts him along the way and he finds his mind in a whirlwind of fear and doubt over his upcoming nuptials. Little Katie gets to spend some time with Butterscotch and, to her delight, Melvin stops into the farm to visit with her. But the conversation takes a turn that neither one of them is prepared to take.