Chapter 1

It’s not the beginning but it’s not too far from a beginning. Anyway, it’s the place where I’m going to start. I’m Taylor Anderson. While I turned forty-eight last winter, the most important items about me might be are that I’m a widower, a father, and a lawyer.

I met and married Glenda in law school. I finished in June with my Juris Doctor degree and she completed her master’s degree in education at the same time. I went to work as a lawyer and she started the next September teaching high school math.

Our marriage was joyous with one exception. Glenda was only able to have one child, a daughter who we named Sharon. Shortly thereafter, she had female problems and had to have a complete hysterectomy.

We loved Sharon and our careers flourished. I had joined a smaller firm and made partner in a few years as it and I grew. Glenda was teaching advanced high school math and finding success. We were living the American dream until she started to have more problems physically. It was cancer and there was little that could be done. She wasted away before my eyes.

Our daughter was, by then, a young teen and Glenda’s sickness and debilitation affected her. Her guy at the time couldn’t handle her moodiness and left her. I didn’t think he was a great loss then. I still don’t.

Our families were good and I backed off on my duties and practice to have time for both my girls. In Glenda’s case, it didn’t matter except that I was with her and held her as we suffered through the terrors of her affliction. Sharon was helped by having her father through the stress. Actually, I think we helped each other.

My daughter and I had remained close through her high school years and into college. After her first two years in college, she transferred to a better college and moved into the dorms since her new college wasn’t close to our home. My practice continued to flourish and I became a named partner and the managing partner.

Sharon had decided to become a teacher like her mother and I supported her in that decision. She stayed in school for her master’s. She graduated with honors and had earned her teaching certificate. She returned home and would start in August as a new teacher in middle school teaching science. I was spending some time as a part-time judge though preferred the daily law practice. With Sharon back at home, I stopped my judging. That gave me more time for my practice and more time for my daughter.

Sharon was happy living at home again and I enjoyed her presence. We went through her first year of teaching. She was successful. I had concentrated upon the practice and mentoring the new lawyers in our firm. Neither of us dated often. My problem was the available pool. Sharon had approached me and asked.

“Sharon, most of the women my age or close are divorced and unhappy or single and planning to be old maids with accompanying sour face. Neither are of interest to me. There were never many after your mother died who could interest me. Since you brought it up, what’s your excuse?”

“Dad, I’m finding the pool of prospective guys dropping in quantity and quality. I don’t subscribe to the modern morality any more than you and that has put some off even asking me out. Most of the others worth considering are married and thereby aren’t available. It’s just tough.”

She grinned. “I have a challenge for you to consider though. Take a sabbatical for the month of July. I’m off from school having already signed my new contract. Let’s get away from Atlanta with a long vacation and more thoroughly explore some old areas.”

I grinned back. “Sounds good. I think I could do that. Where do you have in mind?”

“Either of two very different places, Dad. One would be the Caribbean and the other would be the northwestern part of this country. We both have passports so we can decide either way quite easily.”

I said, “Sharon, we’ve been to both while you were in high school and went to Mexico again a few years ago while you were in college. The northwest United States is a big area. We’ve seen most of the big sights like Yellowstone.”

“Yes, Dad, that’s true for both. However, I would like to see Yellowstone again and there are a few places up that way where we haven’t been.”

“Okay, off to the northwest it will be. I’ll start arranging for a month off when I get to work Monday. You can start mapping an itinerary. How do you want to travel?”

Sharon said in a small voice, “I would like to camp with my dad again. I bet the trailer will need checking to be safe for travel. Your pickup can handle it easily. I can help with the driving. It will be fun!” She was getting more excited as she spoke.

I thought a moment. “Camping would be nice. Our old trailer probably needs some work and should be checked out. It hasn’t been moved in over five years!

“I will call to have someone to go over it. That’s a long trip and it will need to be right. The tires are probably dry rotted and the wheel bearings need repacking. I will have everything on it checked out. Sharon, you know how old that trailer is?”

“Yes, dad. It’s a little older than I am. It’s my favorite memory of the three of us and then the two of us after mom died. Those camping trips kept me sane after mom died. I think they helped you, too.”

I nodded. “It hasn’t had as much use as it should for a number of years.” I gave my daughter a hug.

On Monday, I started preparing my firm for my absence. My partners were not overjoyed but agreed that they could cope. I had to agree that I would be reasonably accessible by cell phone. We started planning the details. I also called a guy who was service manager at a camping place that the firm represented. He would have the camper hauled to their shop and go over it in detail. My day finally ended and I went home.

Sharon was there, of course. She had been working on places and dates. “Dad, June twenty-ninth is a Friday. I’m thinking we could leave that Friday afternoon and get an early start. We would stop for the night in a motel and then continue on our way in the morning. That would give us a few hundred miles head start depending upon when you can get away. At worst, we would leave that Saturday morning from here. We’ll celebrate the Fourth of July out west. I’m working on where now. I want us to be in a small town with an RV park close.”

Chapter 2 »