BY WENDI REARDON PRICE
Clarkston News Staff Writer
Through the years, Clarkston resident Mary Lou Snyder has been inspired by her family and her faith and she put the inspiration into poetry.
She wanted to compile the poems to give to her five children so they would have them, but her daughter, Carol, had another idea – to put it into a book for everyone could read them and now Touched by God is available.
“Look at where we are in the world right now,” Carol said. “We are in a terrible place – mentally, emotionally, spiritually. The people who have read my mom’s poems over the years have all said they have been touched by them. I thought it would be really nice not only for our family to have them, but to share it with the world and put something good out there that would be a positive force than just dealing with all the negativity.”
Mary Lou began writing poetry in the 1970s when the first poem just came to her while being a stay at home mom.
“I was just overwhelmed with everything at the time,” she shared. “I have a wonderful husband, but he was at work all day and I am at home with the kids. You just get overwhelmed with everything that’s when I sat down and wrote ‘Prayer of a Housewife.'”

Mary Lou added the poems are the deepest feelings of her heart and her connection with God, which she has always had.
One of the readers commented, “Wonderful just doesn’t compliment it enough.”
“‘Memories’ was his favorite poem,” Mary Lou smiled. “He said it is one he is going to read and reread until one day he can be back with his deceased wife. I thought it was a wonderful thing. It’s my hope it can touch people’s souls and put them back in touch with the Lord.”
They began working on the book in the spring when the COVID-19 pandemic shut everything down.
“I thought this was a great mother/daughter project during the shutdown,” she said. “My husband and I have a business and our business slowed down dramatically. It was good for me to have something positive to work on especially working with my mom.”
Plus, Carol is a designer and has the software they needed to generate the book and make it look how her mom wanted it to look.
Carol also took pictures of different items in her mom’s home and put them in the book with the poems.
“These are all different things important to my mom,” she said. “Like the bible she bought when she was a young girl and she’s had with her all the time.”
With “Memories,” Carol paired it with a photo of a rock, which is from the yard of the house Mary Lou was born in.
The cover photo is a cross which hung in Mary Lou’s parent’s home for over 50 years. It now hangs in Mary Lou’s home.
“The cross is almost 100 years old,” said Mary Lou. “It’s one of my prized possessions. I love it.”
Carol added she thought it was a great time to work on the book.
“I am really proud of my mom for extending herself to the world and putting herself out there because it’s rough to do especially if you are 81. I have to give her a lot of credit for saying yes and to work with me on this.”
“I can’t thank her enough,” said Mary Lou. “She got the idea to put them into this cute, little book. She did a wonderful job.
“She always said they just come to her,” Carol said.
“As you sit outside and look out to the sky, and you think of all that God has created and nothing can compare with what God has created,” Mary Lou smiled. “Whenever something comes over me, I will write it down, that’s how it happens. I have always felt the connection with God since I was a young girl. I am just glad God let me express myself in this way. it was a nice way to express myself.”
Touched by God is now available on Amazon.com. Mary Lou is a parishioner of Christ the Redeemer Church in Lake Orion.