When God Gives Us Spring .... an excerpt

  an excerpt

"The following Monday morning I met up with Tom Morrison.  We just set out walking and while we walked, we talked.  Mr. Morrison was an educated free black man and he sure did know a lot about this Civil War I was signing myself into.

"This war's the result of decades of tension between the north and the south, Michael," Tom said.  "It's all come to a head since Abraham Lincoln was elected President last year.

"President Lincoln wants all the slaves to be free, Tom. That's why I want to sign up.  I want all the slaves to be free too."

"It's because of Lincoln's election that South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, and Texas seceded from the Union.  And now we got Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas part of the Confederacy too."

"This Lincoln, he knows what he's talking about.  I'll be proud to be a soldier in his army.  Tom, you don't think I'm too old to be a soldier, do you?"

"I don't know, Michael.  You're no spring chicken anymore."

"But I look a lot younger than my sixty years, don't you think, Tom?"

I saw his crooked smile and the uncertainty in his eyes but what he said was, "Sure, Michael.  Sure you do."

I signed up at the first Union Headquarters I came to in the State of Michigan.  I said my farewell to Tom Morrison and asked him to keep a friendly eye on my Lucinda until I returned home once again.  I became a soldier in an all-black battalion; all black that is but our Captain who was a young blond man from Detroit.    I also said good-bye to my civilian clothes and hello to the blue of the Union Army uniform.  They asked me lots of questions before they welcomed me into the Union Army.  They asked me my age.  Thirty-nine I said.  The man didn't even look up, didn't question, didn't seem to care.  He stamped the form that made me a Union soldier.

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When God Gives Us Spring is a novella available exclusively on Amazon in Kindle and Paperback formats.  It is also available as an audio book narrated by the incredibly talented Earl Sewell on Amazon, Audibles, and iTunes.

Thank you for visiting my Amazon Author's Page .

Your positive reviews on Amazon and on Goodreads are welcome and most appreciated.

Watch for the release of my newest work; a novel titled The Observer  in the spring of 2020.

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