As a teenager, I volunteered at a living history museum in central Indiana, set in the year 1836.

Once on the grounds, we really did live in the past. Each shift, I had a character to play, with their own name and backstory. Most often, I played a kitchen maid named Abigail, who served in the doctor’s house. On very special occasions, I got to be the doctor’s wealthy niece visiting from Lexington, Kentucky (that’s who I am in the picture).

I loved everything about it, from the old-fashioned dresses to learning to cook on the hearth. I churned butter, walked on stilts, and even made squirrel stew.

Over the years, that 1830s village stayed with me. I wondered if the kitchen maid ever found love, and where the wealthy niece ultimately made her home.

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