The Family

On a cool spring Saturday in Linsville County, Mrs. Allen drove down the dusty country road headed for her home. The clouds were scattered and the air smelled of possible showers. Rain was needed right now to grow the wheat crops on the old Allen farm. The farm's been in the family for over 75 years, and Trevor and Anita Allen, the proud owners for the last 10 years. Each year, Mr. and Mrs. Allen worked hard and struggled to make enough money to live the life they truly desired. Was this year going to be different? Perhaps this would be the year that the farm made such a profit they could finally take a family vacation with Mrs. Allen's mom Patricia, who had lived with the family since her husband passed away six years ago, Danton, the couple's 12-year-old son, and Sasha, the nine-year-old daughter who had lived on the farm her whole life.

Sasha was always a busy little girl, and often found herself in a mess; through no fault of her own of course. There was always some outside influence that drew Sasha into her interesting experiences. When she got caught throwing ripe plums at the neighbour's house and ended up staining the stucco and breaking a window, she was trying to knock down a bee's nest. When she cut off four inches of her long brunette hair on just one side of her head at age six, it was because her brother told her to. When she got into arguments at school with that horrible Bradley King, it was because Bradley started it by insulting Sasha.

Because Sasha was shy she had some difficulty making friends. She had her brother, her horse Frisco, and other farm animals to keep her company but her mother constantly encouraged her to make new friends; someone she could go into town with on a Saturday to catch a movie or take a dip in the community swimming pool. Her mother felt that Sasha spent too much time on the farm and not enough time socializing. As such, today Mrs. Allen would register Sasha to play baseball and would enrol her on the local swim team. Both sports were starting up soon but Sasha didn't really care. She could do without being involved in organized sports. She was happy just playing catch with Danton in the yard using her old worn, black baseball glove that was once her father's.

Sasha's brother helped his dad on the farm and was rewarded for his hard work with a weekly allowance. He was a typical boy who played with snakes, climbed trees, and collected baseball cards. He had lots of friends and was often away from the farm on the weekends, spending his time and money at Cliff's Cafe which was about two miles away from the farm. Danton and his friends would hop on their bikes after Danton finished his chores and spend the rest of the day in town, drinking sodas and tormenting the girls from his school who were out shopping with their moms. Danton loved having money and appreciated the time he could spend away from the farm. He, unlike his sister, enjoyed school, although neither of them really excelled. They earned grades that just got them by. Danton enjoyed the social aspect of school more than the academics while Sasha couldn't wait to get home from school to spend time by herself or with her animals.

Mr. and Mrs. Allen were high school sweethearts who knew the minute they met they would be together forever. They dated all through junior and senior high school and were married shortly after graduation. They refused to listen to parents and teachers who encouraged them to wait a few years, so they could see some of the world before they settled down. Some of the adults in their lives even suggested the two continue their schooling, but the couple wouldn't hear of it. They knew they were meant to be together and Trevor Allen knew he would be taking over his dad's farm when his dad retired. He saw his future and couldn't wait to start. Anita Allen had a part time job working at the local bakery while attending high school. She got up at three o'clock every morning and baked loaves of bread and cookies before heading to school. She was proud of her domestic skills when she married and continued to bake fresh bread, buns, and sweets for her family every Saturday morning.

When Mrs. Allen's dad fell ill, the family never dreamed that the worst was about to happen. He had a few aches and pains, but nothing he couldn't deal with until one day when Patricia found him after he collapsed in the back yard. She was out hanging clothes on the line while her husband Drew was pulling a few weeds from the garden. Patricia was talking to him and when she realized she was getting no response, she turned around to see him slumped over his wheel barrow, still clutching a weed. A trip to the hospital by ambulance was necessary, and it wasn't until later that evening that the family was delivered the devastating news. Drew would have only six to eight weeks to live by the specialist's estimation. He had cancer in his pancreas and it was inoperable. The family helped him arrange his affairs and spent hours at his bedside in the hospital where Drew was kept comfortable with pain medication. It was a devastating time for the family. Drew's main concern however, was Patricia. He asked his daughter Anita to promise him that she and her husband would take care of Patricia, to which the daughter fully agreed. It was shortly after his death a mere four weeks later that Patricia packed up her belongings, sold her house, and moved in with her daughter's family. Luckily their large, two story white farm house had enough room for Patricia to live comfortably and have some room to herself.

Meeting Louise

Mrs. Allen returned home mid-afternoon with Sasha's Linsville Lions baseball jersey which sported the number 16. She had also been to the local sporting goods store and purchased a new one-piece swimsuit, swim cap, and goggles for the newest member of the Linsville Stingrays swim team. Sasha would be in the "tadpole" division, for girls eight and nine-years-old. "Tadpole?" asked Sasha. "Does that mean next year I'm a frog? How repulsive!"

"No dear. I think the next division up is the eel," Anita said with a laugh. "How do you like your new sports equipment?"

Sasha looked at the jersey and swimsuit. She didn't really want to swim or play ball so didn't really care about her mother's purchases. She knew that it would be a waste of time telling her mother she wasn't interested as they had this conversation many times before today.

"Well, if I'm being forced to play ball and swim, I guess this stuff is okay." Her mother wrapped her arms around Sasha and hugged her tightly.

"I knew you would love it," she cooed. "You are going to have so much fun...