CHAPTER ONE

            Martha and Henry John live in Kansas City on their 8 acre farm with their dog Lucifer, where they raised their 3 children Ginny Sue, James Arnold, and Buck Andrew, teaching them the true meaning of family and team work, in addition to instilling in them respect for nature itself.  They played kickball with their friends Kathy, Billy, Sally, and Michael, the neighbor kids, and did all the usual things kids love to do.  When they got older, the John children got married, moved away, and raised children of their own.  Ginny Sue and her husband Jackson, along with their three children, live in Arlington where she works as an interior decorator and he is a corporate lawyer.  Their children are in grades 8 thru 10.  Buck Andrew and his wife Hollace Marie live in Toronto with their two children.  Buck is an entrepreneur and Hollace is a renowned artist who paints portraits of exotic places and the Mediterranean areas.  James Arnold is not only the owner of 20 ships, but he is also a captain.  He’s a fisherman.  His wife Alice is a marine biologist.  They live in Maine with their three children.  

            All of Martha and Henry’s children send cards for the holidays and birthdays with some money in them, but they hadn’t been up to Kansas City for a visit in years.  This really upsets Martha who rummages through her children’s old things from childhood in the attic.  She is envious of her friends whose children and grandchildren visit frequently.  They come to Kansas City at least three times a year.  Martha is in tears when Henry finds her clinging to some baby clothes belonging to their own children.  He kneels down close to Martha and puts his arm around her.  “What’s troubling you, Martha?”

            “Memories, Henry.  Memories.  Years long gone, leaving nothing really tangible to cling to.  These baby things and other childhood things are nothing but a mirror whose gateways have closed up.  I’m shut out, because our children aren’t a part of our lives the way the way they used to be.”  Martha folded up all of the old baby clothes and packed them back into their respective boxes.  Her eyes are sullen; yet, puffy from the tears of sorrow that flow down her cheeks like a rocky river.  Salt burns her tired flesh, causing it to break out and turn it cherry red.