I was born in 1986 in a small town in a small hospital to small people in north central Wisconsin. I came late on the night before Halloween, and the most memorable thing I’ve been told about my birth is that the doctor came in dressed as a clown. My parents named me Lucinda Joy, a name chosen carefully for its meaning, as were the names of all eight of us children. Lucinda is of Latin origin, meaning “light” or “bringer of light.”

I guess you could say I had a sheltered childhood. As conservative Mennonites, my parents owned neither radio nor television. I spent intense days of my childhood reading, and other intense days living the lives I read about. Slipping silently around corners as an Indian chief, crouched barefoot and trembling out of sight of the slave catchers’ eyes, galloping across the yard as leader of a wild horse band.

I still love stories. 

My first memoir, called Anything But Simple: My Life as a Mennonite, is an intimate exploration of my family and small Mennonite community in rural Rusk County. “Mennonites are complicated,” a friend told me after reading it. Yes. Sometimes. Mennonite, daughter, sister, friend, seeker of truth, human being—all of it comes with complications. 

The second memoir goes deep into my mind and my life-changing friendship with an Ojibwe elder named Charlene. We changed each other in good ways; our friendship, like mountains and birdsong, was meant to be. I call that story Turtle Heart: Unlikely friends with a Life-Changing Bond, and you have to read the book to hear the story of the turtle heart. 

I also have two children’s books, both historical fiction written at a young child’s level. The Arrowhead is based on a story my dad told me about when he was a little boy and prayed to find an arrowhead. The book gives the arrowhead’s imagined history and teaches children the power of prayer. Rosanna in the Middle tells the semi-fictional story of my mom as an imaginative little girl who lived between her two grandmas and learned from them to value the family of God. 

Until the end of 2019, I lived with my parents on their farm, in the same house my great-grandfather built eighty years ago. My seven siblings, some with children of their own, still live in or near the home community.

But on November 23, 2019, I married Ivan and moved to the rolling hills of Oakland, Maryland. If you like, read our love story on my blog. Ivan is my best friend and business partner. We have two children together, Annalise Ida and Theodore Jonas (goes by Teddy.) Here are a few pictures of us, and you are welcome to visit my blog for the most recent update.