Author will share tale of her grandmother at GSV

After Nancy Bieber's father, Ammon Meyer, died, Bieber inherited a shoebox full of letters. The shoebox was stored in her attic, and it remained there until about 2015. "I had to discover what I had," said Bieber. "At some point you have to sort through things."

At first, she would only open a letter occasionally, but soon Bieber realized that the letters were keys to the life of her biological grandmother, Fianna, who had died of tuberculosis in 1915, leaving Bieber's grandfather, Samuel, and two young children, Ammon and Leah. "I thought, 'Oh, my goodness. What have I here?'" said Bieber, who noted that among the letters were some written by Fianna to Samuel before they married or from Fianna to Samuel while her grandmother lived at White Haven in Luzerne County. She also found postcards from her father sent to his mother when he was just 3 that read, "Dear Mama, I miss you." For Bieber, who had not heard much about her grandmother while growing up, the letters were a treasure. "My grandmother died when my father was not yet 4 years old," said Bieber. "His memories of her were small."

Bieber soon realized that her grandmother's story might resonate with others. "It's such a human story," she said. "People identify with it. It's full of love and ... grief." In response to that realization, Bieber has written "Fianna's Story: A True Story of Love, Grief and Faith," a book of nearly 200 pages that traces Fianna's life from her birth to her engagement and marriage, the births of her children, and her struggle with tuberculosis. The book was published in 2020. Bieber will give a multimedia presentation based on the book in the chapel at Garden Spot Village (GSV) on Wednesday, May 3, at 7 p.m. The presentation is free, and the public is welcome to attend.

Fianna's world encompassed a small slice of Pennsylvania, including Lebanon County where she was born; Quarryville, where her father began a church; and northern Pennsylvania where she was treated for tuberculosis. Bieber wisely included direct quotes from the letters in her book so that Fianna and her family could tell their own story. "They wrote such beautiful letters," said Bieber. "I quoted widely because I knew it would be much more effective in the words of the person who was there actually experiencing it."

In addition to the letters, Bieber discovered artifacts that told her grandmother's story, including report cards, a college bill, a piece of her grandmother's wedding dress, and her bill from Elizabethtown College. "There was a lot that I could build on, but I did a fair amount of research," said Bieber, whose background as a psychologist, spiritual director, and previous author all helped in the effort. Bieber researched tuberculosis, White Haven, the train system that existed in the area in the early 1900s, and the structure of the German Baptist Brethren Church to which the family belonged.

More information about Bieber and her books may be found at https://nancybieber.com.