The Weight of Snow and Regret
For over 100 years, no one wanted to be sent to the Sheldon Poor Farm. By 1968, no one wanted to leave. "There's no shame in it now . . . not like in the old days." Amid the social turmoil of 1968, the last poor farm in Vermont is slated for closure. Hazel Morgan and her husband Paul have been matron and manager at the Sheldon Poor Farm for the past 20 years. Unlike her husband, Hazel refuses to believe the impending closure will happen. She believes that if she just cares deeply enough and works hard enough, the Sheldon Poor Farm will continue to be a safe haven for those in need, herself and Paul included. On a frigid January afternoon, the overseer of the poor and the town constable from a nearby town deliver a stranger to the poor farm for an emergency stay. She refuses to tell them her name, where she came from, or what her story is. It soon becomes apparent to Hazel that whatever the woman's story is, she is deeply ashamed of it. Hazel fights to keep the stranger with them until she is strong enough to face, then resume, her life--while Hazel must face the tragedies of her own past that still haunt her. Told with compassion and humor, The Weight of Snow & Regret tells the poignant/bittersweet? story of what it means to care for others in a rapidly changing world.