The end of a 99 cent era
Today’s news that the entire 99c store chain will close struck a blow to my well-being. I have many, many happy memories that grew from my visits to their stores.
In “Maude”, Donna writes the story of her paternal grandmother’s life, beginning on the day of her birth in 1892. A story filled with highs and lows, she reveals a woman who experienced the best life had to offer and the worst events imaginable. Through it all, Maude clung to her faith and kept on going.
In 1906, I was barely over fourteen years old, and it was my wedding day.
My older sister, Helen, came to my room, took me by the hand, and sat me down on the bed. She opened her mouth to say something, but then her face flushed, and she turned her head to look out the window. After a second, she squeezed my hand and looked back in my eyes.
Today’s news that the entire 99c store chain will close struck a blow to my well-being. I have many, many happy memories that grew from my visits to their stores.
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The stories shared with me about Lena, my husband’s mother, were extraordinary. I heard many of them over the years, tales told to me by her son and his father, accounts that were often shocking, sometimes heart-wrenching, and always fascinating.
When newly divorced Ellen has trouble sleeping, her friend, Alexandra, tells her, “Get a dog.” A visit to the local shelter brings Skip into her life.
When Abigail Hightower’s father loses his bid for re-election as mayor of Skylark City, the young woman searches for a way to support her family.
Entertainer Robert Clarkson wakes up in a strange bedroom with a bullet wound in his back and no memory of how it got there. His awkward investigation discovers that the younger brother the Army told him died in Iraq is home and has brought with him something the most powerful people in the world will kill to retrieve.
Half-breed Everett Snipes discovers a newborn baby crying by the body of her mother. He recognizes the mother as the second wife of his cousin Wakiza, chief of the village of scouts located a few miles from the Army base. Everett rescues the infant and takes her to her family. The child’s people are being pushed out of their ancestral lands. In the east, rumblings of the coming war over slavery are already spreading across the nation, and Kansas, Bloody Kansas, will not escape the carnage.
President Tim Connors is slipping in the polls, and his chances for re-election are fading fast. His Chief of Staff, Arthur Locke, blames the abrasive, feminist First Lady, Rachel Connors.