Chapter Five: Jane Eyre Redux

by | Nov 9, 2011 | Amazing Grace

Mother’s new religious zeal was fine with me.  I loved Sunday school, the stories the teacher told with illustrations on the felt board, and singing, and just the whole feeling.  I was reading the Bible (in bits and pieces), and God was taking care of us now for...

Chapter Four: Dead Babies and Iron Skillets

by | Nov 9, 2011 | Amazing Grace

Grandpa decided to arrange for Tom and me to stay with Aunt and Uncle, my mother’s brother and his wife, in Sarasota.  In this way, Mother could keep working on legal problems and we would be “safe”. My aunt put us back in school, I contracted...

Chapter Two: The Lost Boys and Girls

by | Nov 8, 2011 | Amazing Grace

Families are somewhat like planetary systems. In a certain terrain and atmosphere, the members develop and evolve based on the resources available. It seems to me, after all these years, that it’s impossible to understand the deep inner nature of anyone without...

Chapter One: The Face at The Window

by | Nov 7, 2011 | Amazing Grace

I am awake and I am cold. In the first few moments of awareness, this is all I know.  Waves of shudders pass through me, and in a single spasm of deep shock, I open my eyes.  I don’t know where I am or who I am.  The surroundings are unfamiliar and something is...