Time for a New Life - chapter 2

Welcome back to Yankee Burrow Storytime.  Last week we met John and Sarah when they received a letter from their bank.  It was the type of letter no-one wants to see, but too many families today have received, they are losing their home.  Join us as we watch this family make a new life.

(oh, and in case you didn't know, this is a fictional story.)

Chapter 2 - Packing up the memories

baby brag book

"Mommy, where are we going to live?"  My youngest child, my little girl, still my little baby, so full of fear and uncertainty, asks me this question while helping me to put our family pictures into boxes.  I don't know how to respond. I can't respond because I don't know where we will be at this time next month.  I get up from the floor where I am surrounded by boxes, sorting and packing up my broken hopes and dreams.  I grab my little girl up in my arms, move to my favorite spot, and plop down on the window seat and just hold her as she softly cries.  Janie is only 5, she should be playing and laughing, but instead my sensitive little girl is frightened so I just sit and hold her, because that's all I can do.

baseball pendant

I hear John come in the back door, followed by our son Jacob.  They are laughing and joking, talking about Jacob's baseball game.  How can they joke and laugh today?  I feel a rush of anger spring up in me, the heat rushing to my face as I try to push down the feelings.

"Sarah, where are you?  You should have been there, Jacob was amazing.  Yankees, here we come."  John enters the room, and stops when he sees me, and sees the boxes all over the room.  "What are you doing?  I told you to stop packing.  We are not moving.  This is our house and they cannot take it away, not without a fight."  John's yelling causes Janie to cry even harder.  And I say nothing.  Again.  John storms from the room, and I hear him go to his study.  I hear the bottles clink as he prepares a drink.  During all this I'm watching Jacob, watching the smile leave his face, his shoulders slump as he turns and leaves the room.  At only 12 years old, Jacob is losing his childhood too quickly.  I tell Janie to go and find her sister, then I go into the study only to find John throwing back his drink.  I cringe when I hear the glass shatter after John throws it against the wall.  And my heart breaks even more when I see him start to cry.  Finally.  I walk to him, and softly touch his arm.  He turns to me, holds me tight, and apologizes.  For his anger.  For losing his job.  For not taking care of his family.  And we both cry.  But this time, we cry together.

cake topper

Come back and join me next week to see what's next for John and Sarah.  And you can click on the links below the pictures to visit these great items available at HandmadeArtists.com

Be blessed,

Debbi

Time for A New Life - chapter 1

It's been a while since I shared a story, mostly because I had writers block.  But a new story has been tickling the back of my brain for a few weeks, so today I start...

Time for a New Life

Chapter 1 - The beginning of the end

butterfly photo

Sitting here at my kitchen table, I watch the dust float in the air, caught shimmering in a beam of sunlight streaming through the window.  Watching them, I wonder, how can such a sunny beautiful day be so full of sadness?  I glance down at the letter in my hand, again, hoping against hope that this time it will say something different.  But it doesn't.   We're losing the house.  Our house.  The dream house that we planned, and designed, and worked so hard for, gone, just like that.  I get up from the table, rinse my coffee cup and place it in the shiny stainless steel dishwasher, and turn to look at my kitchen.  The granite counters, handmade cupboards, custom tile floor.  So much work went into this kitchen, and I don't even cook.  I hear the back door open, and watch my husband of 13 years walk in the house.  I can tell by his face that the news was not good.  "How did it go?" I ask him, but he just grunts and pushes past me and heads to his den.


vintage mini bar

I follow, just in time to see him pour himself a drink from his personal mini-bar he had added to his built in bookshelves.  What a laugh, John doesn't even like to read, yet he filled the shelves with classics.  Just to look like he fit in with the crowd at the office.  I sit next to him on the leather sofa and hand him the letter.  He just glances at it briefly, then lets it fall from his fingers.  I reach for his hand, but he pulls away and tells me to leave him alone.  Inside I'm screaming "I'm tired of being alone", but instead I just stay quiet, and leave the room.  I go to my sitting room, and mindlessly turn on the television.  Sitting in the bay window seat, I let my mind wander....and wonder, how did we ever get here?  John and I don't talk, and the kids?  Well, they just talk back.  I feel tired.  So tired.  But I don't have time to feel sorry for myself, I heard the bus pull up in front of the house, and my children come running up the long driveway.  Laughing and yelling.  Time enough to worry about the house later, now it's time to worry about dinner.



Just like before, stay tuned for a new chapter each week.  And click on the links below the pictures to see the great items I found to include in my story.  See you later...

Be blessed,

Debbi