Hartley native publishes first book

It may be a short read, but Vicky Treimer is hoping her new book can be a big help.

The Hartley native recently published My Ultimate Hope. A victim of bullying growing up, she hopes the 42-page read will have an impact on children going through a similar situation.

"I just want them to know they don't they have to live with the unforgiveness that I did," she said. "I carried that for 38 years. That's most of my life."

The daughter of Eldon and Viola Treimer, Treimer grew up on farm south of Hartley and attended school in the City With a Heart. She said she was heavily bullied in junior high and eventually headed to Sioux County to attend Western Christian in Hull.

Unfortunately, her bully followed her. Treimer ended up dropping out to escape the harassment and eventually achieved her GED.

The effects of bullying gave Treimer low self-esteem, anxiety, anger and a sense of resentment toward those who wronged her. She was eventually able to overcome the trauma, but it took decades.

"More sensitive as I grew older," she said. "I had to learn to deal with one issue at time. The unforgiveness, I held on to that for over 30 years until I was finally able to forgive my bullies. I had to forgive myself first."

My Ultimate Hope isn't Treimer's first crack at writing. She previously had poetry published in one anthology of the National Library of Poetry and two anthologies of Treasured Poems of America. She also contributed an essay, "Country Memories," to Make Hay While the Sun Shines.

My Ultimate Hope is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

"I really wanted to write this to help kids who are being bullied," she said. "I always try to put an inspirational twist on my writing so the reader can see a funny side of it or a comforting side to life."