Читать книгу Kids by Christmas - Janice Johnson Kay - Страница 3

Dear Reader,

Big sister Suzanne is at the heart of all three books in the LOST…BUT NOT FORGOTTEN trilogy. She’s closest to my heart (although I did love Gary in Lost Cause!), perhaps because I, too, was the child who always tried to shoulder responsibility for the happiness of everyone else in the family. I was the peacekeeper when anger fired, Miss Perky when I sensed tension brewing. To this day I have a hard time delegating any kind of responsibility, driven still on some level to make everything right all by myself.

Suzanne has a better excuse than I do. Imagine being six years old and having your parents die. All you hear is your mom’s voice saying, “You’re the big sister. Take care of your little sister and brother.” Only, you can’t. They’re taken away and adopted out, seemingly forever beyond your reach. How could you help living with a powerful sense of failure?

But because Suzanne is the responsible one, as an adult she takes action, tracking down her sister and brother. In Kids by Christmas, she realizes she’s fulfilled her lifelong goal and is disconcerted to find she still feels empty. It’s time she reached for happiness for herself, not for everyone else. Suzanne being Suzanne, though, she can only keep giving. But one of the miracles of Christmas is that usually when you give a gift, you get one in return. Suzanne’s just might be a real family.

Merry Christmas!

Janice Kay Johnson