About Tammy

I wanted to be a boy.

Boys seemed to have the freedom. But after leaving home and going on my own perpetual rumspringa for a number of years, I realized that being a woman had its own distinct set of reasons to love it, too.

Then after getting married, and it not working with the natural harmony or rhythm that happened in my grandparents’ home, I realized Freedom wasn’t based on your gender.

Freedom was something people either learned how to build and protect, or slowly it faded away.

Here’s how I learned both viewpoints (men’s and women’s) before I had learned much more about life.

My grandmother would send me down to Grandpa’s woodshop to deliver messages to him. He’d then give me a message back to her. I loved the run back and forth — passing the humongous old pear tree, the chickens, and even the two-person outhouse along the way. You read that correctly. It was very practical in a ten-person family.

Little did I realize I was learning how two different ways of being can belong in the same relationship. Turns out it is the structure of all the best things in life.

My grandmother’s voice is the one I hear when I write. Tested against reality, said as plainly as possible. The barn out back, the garden rows, the quilts on every bed — none of it was decoration. All of it was a working answer to the question of how people build lives that are prepared for tough times while staying warm enough for everything to grow.

Want to hear that voice for yourself? The kitchen sentences that raised me are all here: Leitzel’s Lines →

Want more of my story?

I’m not here to teach women how to defeat men. I’m not here to teach men how to manage women. I’m here to take the pressure off of everyone by teaching what nobody taught us about building a life that works.

I still work a day job, so every purchase helps — but what is most important to me is sharing the PA Dutch Way of Living & Loving. I’m proud of where I came from. We’re tried and true.

– Tammy