The Girl in the Window

By Ella Mae Money

Ella Money always knew there was something out there much bigger and better than her, so she became a dreamer. She didn’t know that someday her dream would become her reality. The twists and turns while she was growing up in the South weren’t always easy. The ups and downs led her down wrong pasts, making her commit all kinds of mistakes, leading to years of regrets. She lost and found herself at the same time, not understanding that life is a journey. What you learn along the way is up to you to use for good or bad, positive or negative. It’s up to you to decide. Her past placed her in the South, her present placed her in many different cities, and her future placed her in Minneapolis, Minnesota—and there she found herself. The girl in the window was always me, Ella Money. I just had to realize that.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Newman Springs Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Aug 3, 2021
• ISBN: 9781648015571

Book preview

1

Abandoned: Having been deserted or cast off

Summer of 1965

As a little girl, I grew up on a farm in Mattson, Mississippi, with my grandmother, mom, four siblings, and cousin with five kids. Living on my grandmother’s farm were thirteen people in one house with three bedrooms and a kitchen. We were all so happy living together because that was the way of life back then. My grandmother was a very strong lady. She took good care of us all. We did not struggle for anything.

Grandmom would get up early in the morning, milk the cows, gather the eggs from the henhouse, cut the meat from the smokehouse, and have breakfast on the table every single morning while we all crawled out of bed to start the day. As a little girl, I stayed close to my grandmother in every step she made because Grandmom was someone that I looked up to for guidance and strength. Without Grandmom, where would I end up? She taught me how to pray and told me to always trust God for everything.

Grandmom took us to church every single Sunday because that was what we did—no questions asked. And after church, we would all get together and have Sunday dinner. The grown-ups would sit around the tablet and hold a conversation, while we kids would all be outside playing with the rest of the neighbor kids. After dark, everybody went their separate ways.

One night, I saw my grandmom sitting by the fireplace. Watching the fire as it made the crackling sound, I asked Grandmom, What are you doing?

She replied, Come, sit with me. I am going to tell you a story about this little girl that I know who will grow up and become the most precious jewel for God. When she finished, she turned to me and asked her, Tell Grandmom. Who do you think that little girl is?

I looked into my grandmom, who held me so tight and whispered, Yes, it will become you? I laid my head on her lap and fell asleep.

As time went by, summer was almost over. Grandmom and all the kids went to the garden to gather the vegetables and pick and put them away for the winter. It was so much fun for me to pick the watermelon. It was my favorite, because if Grandmom told you to carry the melon and you accidentally dropped it, you got to eat it. And that was the most fun part of the day in the garden with Grandmom and us kids.

As time passed, it was getting a little cooler and a little darker. We knew right then that fall was approaching. One fall day in 1965, when I experienced being abandoned by my father, I would never forget that feeling for as long as I live and breathe. My father was home off the road. He was a preacher, and his position kept him away from home. Sometimes I would not see him maybe for three to four months or maybe longer, and when he did show up, he would always leave the next day or two. I didn’t know what was going on, but I could feel something was seriously wrong just by watching my dad pack his car with everything in it that belonged to him. As he was parking the car, I ran outside and asked, "Daddy, where are you