Two locals highlighted in new book about women of Kansas

"A government scribe who accompanied the removal called it the ‘Trail of Death’ because so many died along the way, mostly the elderly and the children," wrote Sister Virginia in Kathryn Sommer’s new book, "A Passion of Her Own, Life-Path Journeys With Women of Kansas."

Sister Virginia and Hattie Stein are two local women out of 34 women from across Kansas highlighted in the book, which provides compelling essays of their lives, self-written and focused on the spirit-filled journey each has taken.

"Historically, Kansas women have always been included in the forefront of notable women," writes Sommer in her introduction. "Some became notorious because their causes were considered radical, others because they dared to step out of the role prescribed for women of their day.

"…The passionate spirit of the women who have gone before us is still alive and active in the present-day women of Kansas."

Sister Virginia, a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Concordia, wrote of her passion for honoring the memory of her great-grandmother, "Equa ke sec," a member of the Potawatomie tribe. "She was a child in 1838 in the Nile Valley near St. Joseph Michigan" when the U.S. government forced their removal to Kansas.

"Because my great-grandmother was one of the few children who lived through the journey, the Indians named her Equa ke sec, which means ‘the rising generation, the one who lives on.’"

Sister Virginia wrote of her struggle discerning the call to become a Sister: "I was angry with God for calling me to be a Sister, but that didn’t stop the calling."

She also wrote of working with Mother Teresa in Calcutta: "The most over-powering experience I brought home with me from India was the joy in the hearts of the people. I could see it in their eyes, joy amidst their utter poverty. I believe it was that joy that must have drawn Mother Teresa to her beloved people of Calcutta. That month spent in Calcutta was the experience of a lifetime for me."

Dodge City resident Hattie Stein detailed a journey of another sort, a kind that takes you not to another place and time, but from inner turmoil to unabashed joy.

Alcoholism sneaks up on you like a whisper that slowly becomes louder and louder. And it often isn’t until the whispered lies become a shout that one can see the effects of their addiction.

That shout came for Stein when a friend with whom Stein and her husband used to party stopped by her house with a bowl of strawberries from her garden.

"It was the most powerful bowl of strawberries I’d ever received!" Stein wrote. "When she walked into my kitchen, I suddenly realized the table was full of empty beer cans. I don’t know how many, but I saw tons of them. I’d planned to have one beer that morning and then start my chores. The next thing I knew I had one load of laundry in the machine and the table was full of beer cans."

Fortunately, Stein already had a guardian angel of sorts to whom she could turn, Father Dermot Tighe, who accompanied Stein to her first Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.

"The disease is so self-centered that your only thoughts are about self," she wrote. "That’s why it is so destructive to families and relationships of any kind."

"…I was angry with God for putting me in this situation and blamed Him that I was an alcoholic. At first I thought, ‘Why me, Lord?’ Then, at AA, I learned to ask, ‘Why not me?’"

Stein’s recovery has taken her from the self-centered pit of inner-turmoil to … well, just the opposite. Today she serves as a National Certified Alcohol Counselor, Certified Alcohol/Drug Counselor, and a National Advanced Certified Relapse Prevention Specialist, helping others climb that sometimes seemingly Everest-high mountain to recovery.

Among other women highlighted in the book are: Angela O. Bates, who is working to restore the historic town of Nicodemus, a settlement built in 1877 by African Americans; environmental and peace activist Judy Carman; Leavenworth native and singer Melissa Etheridge; and pilot Bonnie Johnson.

For more information about obtaining a copy of Sommer’s new book, go to www.msmedia production.com, or check local book stores. Cost of the book is $24.95.