The Nurse Who Came from Away: Mildred McKinley R.N., Depression Era Nurse

In The Nurse Who Came from Away, author Joanne Dobson brings to life the extraordinary journey of her mother, Mildred McKinley Abele—an unassuming nurse whose quiet strength, sharp wit, and remarkable resilience shaped generations. Born in 1903 in rural New Brunswick, Canada, Mildred grew up in a house without electricity or indoor plumbing, surrounded by storytelling kin and the rugged beauty of the Miramichi River.But Mildred wanted more than the confines of backwoods life. At twenty-four, with support from her sisters, she crossed the U.S. border to train as a nurse in Caribou, Maine—a decision that changed everything. Her voice—smart, sassy, often hilarious—comes alive in letters sent home over decades, chronicling a life in motion: nursing school, Depression-era struggles, bustling New York hospitals, love, loss, and the forming of a family far from home.With tenderness and insight, Dobson recounts how these letters—long forgotten, some nearly destroyed—found their way back to her and her sisters, decades after their mother’s death. Through them, she reconstructs not only Mildred’s life, but also the rich oral tradition of a family that prized words, wit, and unspoken strength.The Nurse Who Came from Away is a portrait of a working woman in the twentieth century—ordinary in some ways, extraordinary in others. It is a love letter to mothers and daughters, to the power of storytelling, and to the everyday courage of women who carved out meaningful lives in a world that often overlooked them.A moving testament to a life lived with purpose—without fuss, but never without impact. Read more