Merle Metzler has been a resident of the Prince George area for over 25 years. After the death of her husband 2016, she was devastated. What would she do now?
Her husband had been the centre of her world for more than half her life. Years ago, she started writing her ‘memoirs’ detailing everything she could remember from growing up on a farm in Saskatchewan to raising her four young children with her first husband in Quesnel and Prince George. After reading everything she had written, her daughter suggested having it published. After many months of hard, often emotionally draining hard work, Merle has become a self-publishing author. Not too shabby for a great-grandmother who celebrated her 76th birthday this year.
In Shattered Dreams and Broken Hearts Merle writes candidly about the sexual abuse she suffered as a child and how she helped to end the cycle of abuse within her own family. This is especially relevant today in light of the #metoo movement. Merle also recounts her battle with alcoholism and how through her faith she learned to accept and forgive.
The lawyer told us that Dad would probably just get a slap on the wrist and that would be that. His lawyer told him to plead guilty. Dad was, after all, in his early eighties. The court room was full (it was a small area where everyone knew each other). They read the complete report, so everyone knew everything. The judge said he was so tired of hearing these sexual abuse stories and his verdict was a complete shock!
Merle also shares several anecdotes of life in the bush of northern Alberta and later on the farm in western Saskatchewan. Merle also writes of the often hilarious adventures of her own four children growing up in Quesnel and Prince George.
Merle was born in 1942 in the small town of Paradise Hill, SK. She grew up on a farm in the area with her seven siblings. Merle was married at 16 and had four children by the time she was 20. She and her husband later moved to Quesnel and then Prince George where their marriage began to crumble. They soon divorced and she met her second husband not long after and together they had a daughter. After moving back to Saskatchewan for 10 years they decided to return to Prince George where she still resides today surrounded by her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and her beloved dog Koko.
My hangovers were horrendous. I always thought of suicide after I drank. The next day I couldn’t face another hangover so I started drinking as soon as I got up, vowing insanely to never be sober again. Later that day Eddie took me for a drive. He said I looked like death. I woke up the next night at about midnight, stone cold sober
She will be holding a book signing November 17 from 1-3 p.m. at Books & Company, 1685 Third Avenue.
