Dear Julie,
It's been four years now, and it's definately been hard for you. I don't know what to do with you sometimes. But, you know that Henry and Emma and Mike and I are always here for you. The dog that Jim got you is huge now. He seems to be the only thing that keeps you going. That, and your work. I know you miss Jim, but they can't bring him back. You will have to start living again, dear. You know that as well as I do. And so does Mike. I know he's got eyes for you! Let's go out to lunch sometime and talk. We need some girl time!
Love,
Mabel
He's nice.
He's sweet.
He's fun.
He's my date.
He's handsome.
He's cool.
He's amazing.
He's my best friend.
What is wrong with me?
I have to choose between two guys.
But everyone already knows that Mike is the one.
Mike is always there for me, no matter what.
Mike, do you hear me?
I love you, Mike.
I'm sorry, Jim.
It's what you would've wanted, right?
I hope so...
In this book, the main character, Julie, is forced to face oncoming feelings towards a man that was her dead husbands' best friend. She finds herself, four years after her husbands' death, dating other men and trying to find the perfect man again. All she is trying to do is make herself and the ones around her happy.
This is a diary entry from her friend Mike's point of view.
Dear Diary,
Well, Richard and Julie were at the Clipper tonight. They stopped by our table and chatted with Henry, Emma, and I. I suppose that Richard is a nice enough guy, but Julie could do much better than him. He puts off a bad vibe, but it seems like the others haven't noticed anything different in the atmosphere. I, myself, don't particularly like Richard at all. Maybe I'm just jealous, but I only want what's best for her.
She looked so beautiful tonight. I just wish she would realize that I'm the one for her. Sure I'm Jim's best friend, but it's what he would've wanted, right? Someone close to her and nice... Someone that can always make her smile... Someone that Jim would've been able to count on to keep her safe. She did look happy tonight with Richard, but still... I love her and I know deep down that he is going to break her heart.
Sincerely,
Mike Harris
It was all just purpose.
He seemed to have everything.
Me, I have my books, and that's It.
But I'm not even sure I have those anymore.
He is ruining my life.
We stood on the limb pertruding over the water.
Everything seems beautiful from this view.
The golden glow of the sun sinking behind the horizon, leaving a small glow of light on everything.
Including Finny.
*sigh*
His movie-star tan, his perfect golden body, accented by the leftover sparkling glow bouncing off the water.
I get a thought suddenly.
A horrible one at that, and then Finny is lying crippled on the ground.
The next few days blur by.
I find out his sports career is over.
That I ruined it.
For good.
Sorry Finny, it was all my fault.
But, you ruined me first.
I was about four or five. At the time we lived up the East Boulder. Our house was pretty big, white with red shudders. Our landlords were very nice people. I always ventured over towards their horses. Horses fascinated me and still do.
Anyways, connected to the house were these stone steps. I believe they led underneath the house to a basement, but I don't ever remember going all the way down them. I would always play on the stone steps with my dog, Ginger, and here puppies. I would bring blankets and my little folding chair and play on the hard stone.
One day I brought my things outside and played with my dog, Ginger. I must have been tired because I curled up with my blankets, layed down on the little chair for it was folded up flat on the top step, and I cuddled with my dog, Ginger and her puppies and fell asleep. My mom or dad even took a picture of me like that, and I still have the picture somewhere at home today.
Dear Brother,
We were both little. I guess you could say we were always in trouble; we liked to argue a lot. We were mean to each other, but then we had some good times, too. We were always ourside, never really inside much. I remember we would go back behind the house where the gardens and trees were or down by the creek beyond our property lind. Sometimes we would even go across the road into the bird sanctuary.
Do you remember when we went across the road with our dog, Tank? We climbed the hills to the trail we always walked up and went to the Nye farm. It was old and rundown. We picked the apples from the trees up there; they were extremely delicious and sweet like honey. We looked in the windows of all the buildings and went back for more apples. Then, in the big, yellow shop, we heard voices. We didn't think we were supposed to be up there. Running fast, we hid behind some bushes and watched carefully. Nobody came out, but we were still scared, hearts pumping hard, loud in our ears. We snuck around the building quietly towards the trail. We ran so fast and heard, until we were out of sight of the building, not sure if anyone was following us. We were so scared we would get caught. We didn't tell anyone about that event, it was our secret, and we didn't go back up there for a couple days. Now, we don't even care. We love going up ther and exploring. Something we will always love to do, no matter how old we get. Miss you lots, little brother! Stay healthy and be good!
Love,
Your sister
Shout!
We. Are a people.
And We. Have dreams, too.
We want equal rights.
Because of our race, our color, We. Are discriminated against.
We. Are the same as Everyone else in these rooms, these streets, the corners that we walk around.
We. Are separated.
But We. Are equal.
We realize that We. Are different in a way.
That. Does not make us criminals.
We. Are a people.
And We. Have dreams, too.
We want equal rights.
We. Just want to belong.
To be accepted among You.
Please. Hear us out.
Hear our voices.
Hear us SHOUT!
We. Just want to belong.
