Chapter 11

VOLUME FOUR: A PALM TREE FOR CHRISTMAS

Heather wrapped a china bowl in newspaper, packed it into a box, and looked around the living room. Once, beautifully decorated and filled with laughter now the dusty room contained only memories and boxes. Boxes of all shapes and sizes--some open, some closed, some stacked, some packed, some empty—all in disarray.

Over Labor Day weekend, when most families would be having a final cookout or pool party to end the summer before starting back to school, and before the fast-pace of the holidays sucked the life out of them, they'd be packing and moving thousands of miles away from their family, friends and their childhood homes.

She leaned against the wall and slowly sank to the floor. Tears trickled down her cheeks. What are we doing? Since Gene lost his job, nothing's been the same. What if this is the wrong decision? And I'm scared. I'm going to miss my family so much.