The Iceman’s Daughter

Ruth Hill Small was raised on a small farm located on the outskirts of the village of Randolph, Vermont in the 1940s and '50s. Her father was the local iceman who cut ice on their pond in the winter and became endeared to the local children when he gave away ice chips in the summer. Ruth and her sister rode the ice truck and led an idyllic childhood until tragedy struck. Her seventeen-year-old brother died in a tractor accident and her mother became the farm hand to take his place. Hard work, love for the land and love for each other kept this family together and left Ruth with an overwhelming need to hang onto her roots. Ruth became a nurse, and Ward A at Gifford Memorial Hospital was a huge part of her life until a nightmarish Code 99 incident turned her away from nursing and started an endless quest for another career. Ruth captures a simpler time of life and weaves together her tips on how to make apple pie and bake bread with the tale about her family, how she found her way back to nursing, and her life with Bruce, her husband of 57 years, in West Brookfield. "It is an amazing book!" --- Sara Tucker, Co-founder of Korongo Books and author of Becoming Madame Texier and others.