God looks out for Country Girls like me

About the Book

Bettie Gerber Miller was one of the first generation of Americans to be born and raised in Eastern New Mexico. This was due to parents who homesteaded in the area. She was born in 1926 and grew up during the depression of the 1930’s, the dust bowl days, and WWII. Bettie didn’t realize she was growing up during tough times, for everyone in her community was in the same boat. She just thought that was the way life was. She relates many good memories from those days. Her adult life was no bed of roses, for after 17 1/2 years of marriage, her husband’s infidelity lead to a divorce and she had her share of problems along the way.

Bettie tried several jobs before returning to get her college degree and becoming a teacher/librarian at Portales High School for 22 1/2 years. Tales of ups and downs along life’s way are interspersed with fun times after she and her second husband, W. F. Miller, Jr., (she remarried eight years after her divorce) got into an RV’ing lifestyle. They took many interesting trips with their Good Sam Clubs and other camping organizations they joined as well as by themselves and with other couples. She includes many of these in her book. They estimate they put at least 130,000 miles on their different RV’s. They started out with a cab-over camper, then a camping van, a fifth wheel, a gas powered motor home, and on to a variety of larger diesel motor homes ranging from a fancy 40 foot Country Coach Concept down to their last one ( a gas one that Bettie felt comfortable driving), a 29 foot gas Winnebago with a slide out that made it much more spacious and comfortable. They didn’t even get the new worn off it when Bettie had a major stroke that left her unable to drive. She remains very handicapped, unable to walk by herself, and with limited use of her hand and poor eyesight. W. F. had already been told he had terminal cancer.

Sometime during the stroke, Bettie felt she was dying and many things flashed past in her mind, including the fact that she didn’t get to complete her book. She felt deep regret over this and asked, “Is this it, Lord?” Immediately, she found herself back in the present. This experience spurred her on to complete her book. Even with all their problems, the author maintains an optimistic outlook and shares many of the things she has learned about values, good rules for living, and her philosophy of life. She felt she wanted to include these so her grandchildren would remember her feelings about these subjects.

The second part of her book contains her poetry and some of her prose works. After a time at school, she was called their poet laureate and was called on to write a poem for each retiring faculty member. She also wrote poems about many other things that were of interest to her. At times in her life she has posed as a cousin of Minnie Pearl and includes one of her routines. She started writing her memoirs in an off- again, on-again manner. She did not follow a formal way of writing by subject or date order. Instead she calls it more of a “stream of consciousness” manner, letting her random thoughts take her down memory lane. She says she enjoyed writing her memoirs in this manner and hopes that others will enjoy them also.

About the Author

Bettie Gerber Miller was born in 1926 in Eastern New Mexico. Her first marriage produced three children. This marriage ended in divorce and eight years later, she married W. F. Miller, Jr., who had two children. Together, they now have 13 grandchildren, 18 great grandchildren, and 11 great great grandchildren. She has had a varied life of both unhappiness and success. A major stroke has left her handicapped and her husband has terminal cancer.