November 6, 2004

The news reported the birth of the baby Deedee Manners was carrying. The footnote to the report said that she would be doing three movies early in the year and then volunteer for a third implant as soon as she had only two months to work. None of her recordings were top sellers till this year. One of them was re-released in mid October with pictures of the pregnant Deedee and a new song that she wrote and performed about the baby she was carrying. Only three other recordings had ever sold more copies in the first fifteen days. When the sales soared she assigned eighty percent of the proceeds to several groups that were caring for orphans in Central America. Ironically by the end of the year her twenty percent was greater than the full amount of the first release. When she mentioned this on a Leno program the switchboard lit up. They wanted to know the names of the organizations she was working with. After a break Jay had them put up the addresses and Deedee asked that people spread their money over the groups. Over the next four days twice as much money came in for them than she had given. A week later Deedee was back on Leno thanking people for the contributions. Over the next week she and Jay worked out a plan to allow people to give to an organization they set up and funded. You could give to it, there was no overhead charge, you could designate money to any organization or organizations, you could specify orphans, or some other category or you could just give to the fund and they would split the money. Within a year the fund had taken in and given out over a half billion dollars, most of it from donations of under $200. Several other Hollywood performers saw the value, they made contributions to the fund and to help manage it. They also started plugging it in performances and on the jackets of their CD’s and DVD’s.

December 6, 2004 Harrisburg

Peggy was taken to surgery and the port removed. Because of her pregnancy she was given a spinal for the procedure. Later that evening she was back at her room showing Joan’s seam work to Paul. If all went well they would soon have half of what they wanted. Joan came in and they chatted. At one point Joan pulled up her scrub suit to show her bulging belly. She was now nearly six months pregnant. “You’ll look like this soon,” she told Peggy.