CHAPTER 2 Preview

Christmas Eve night, 1950, was bitter cold. The frosted air
filtered through the cracks of our small house, and through the
double layers of clothing I had on. The eerie, lonesome sound
of the wind set the cold winter night even deeper into my bones.
My brother, Chuck, put another log on the fire, and the sparks
filled the fireplace, like a thousand fireflies.
It must have been close to midnight. Momma lay ever so still
on the small hard mattress, thin and frail, but her long dark curly
hair had weathered the fifty years of her hard life and sickness.
As we gathered around her, I could almost feel the pain that
wracked her small body and radiated through her face. When
she began to speak, all of us strained to listen to every word.
Momma spoke only in a whisper, but her words were distinct
and clear. I remember her carefully thought-out and chosen
words just as though it was yesterday.

 Daddy asked the children to leave the room. When I looked
back, I saw Daddy bending over Momma. Tears were flowing
freely down his cheeks. He picked up Momma’s frail and limp
body and cradled her in his arms. He rocked back and forth for
what seemed an eternity. It was then and only then that I knew
something was bad wrong....