Prologue

Jim was lying in bed crying softly to himself.

“Why did you have to die? Why did you have to leave me? How am I supposed to do this without you?”

She had been his rock, his partner, his best friend, and his lover. They had met during the summer before his senior year in high school. She was only fourteen at the time, but he knew she was the one; she was the one he was going to marry and live happily ever after with. They had given their virginity to each other during her senior year. They had gotten engaged the night of her high school graduation, and had married during his senior year in college. Their daughter was born a little over a year later.

It had been hard at first, but they struggled through the rough times and each had matured, together, as a family.