Читать книгу Tracings - Michael J. Harris - Страница 3

This story is about my mother, Carole Turner, and my stepfather, Jim. To some extent, it’s also part of my story. My mother told me her version of this story last June, as she was slipping away from internal injuries she received in a collision with a drunken driver. My stepfather gave me his version of the story before he died of a heart attack two months later (some say he died of a broken heart, but the doctors say it was his arteries).

I’ve tried to capture my mother’s and my stepfather’s words and thoughts as accurately as I could, and I’ve added very little – only small bits of conversation here and there for continuity.

The greatest liberties I’ve taken are with the words and thoughts of the third person who figures prominently in the story – Blanche Nelson, Jim’s high school teacher. Blanche gave of herself to help my mother and stepfather in ways that are truly remarkable and touching. Though my mother provided as many details as she could remember, and Jim furnished many more details, in the end I had to guess what Blanche was thinking, and how she interacted with others.

I suspect most of you will find this story difficult to believe. Even I find it hard to believe, and I’m the story’s most tangible evidence.

Our story begins in Philadelphia, on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, 2003…

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