Lillian Gardner grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana, about fifty miles from where this story takes place. She lived her adult life as a fifth grade public school teacher in middle Tennessee, where the f...view moreLillian Gardner grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana, about fifty miles from where this story takes place. She lived her adult life as a fifth grade public school teacher in middle Tennessee, where the father in the story is stationed for much of the Civil War. Lillian and the late Jacob Gardner have five children and eight grandchildren.view less