This is the account of the life of a remarkable, ordinary woman, born in 1889 on a farm in downstate Illinois. She married a Methodist minister 10 years her senior, taking on two stepchildren and following him to Utah and back. When she was widowed at the age of 37, she found ways to survive and thrive, determined that her own daughter would get a college education. The story is set against the tumultuous background of the early 20th century, much of it in a dying railroad town in eastern Montana. Sustained by faith, Nellie surmounts personal tragedy and remains hopeful, sharing love with family and friends alike.