My Sister's Keeper by Mary Collins (highly recommended books .txt) 📕

never did.
After another six months of training Cassie was on her own without supervision. She traveled mostly from New York to Los Angles. Once a year she attended a fashion show in Paris, exclusively for the Women's Retailers Association. She gave up her small studio and moved into a two bedroom on the east side of town. The rent was triple what she paid for the studio, but she needed the extra room. Here she had a large bedroom with a window overlooking the park. Sometimes at night she’d lay on her king size bed, watching the young lovers holding hands while they walked around the duck pond. She often imagined it was her, dreaming of the time when she’d find someone to spend her life with. Sometimes on Saturdays, she’d take bread or crackers and feed the ducks. She had made a few friends at work and even went out on a few dates. But she was only interested in her career and meeting the right people who could help her up the corporate ladder.
Cassie made more money now than she’d ever dreamed of making. She had not been raised in poverty, but knew what it was to want things she couldn’t afford. She grew up in a nice neighborhood and in one of the nicest homes in Alsip. Mom owned a small beauty shop and worked long hours to keep the bills paid and food on the table. Cassie remembered coming home from school and helping by washing towels or sweeping up hair. After her mother closed the shop at night they would help her vacuum and clean up so she would be ready for the next day. They never minded helping their mother. They appreciated the fact that she worked hard to give them what they needed. Margie Robbins had a steady clientele, most of whom had been regulars for years. She also got a lot of the girls that went to school with Cassie and Cathy. She always kept her daughters’ hair cut in the latest styles.
Margie had opened her beauty shop two years after her husband died in a car crash. She had taken cosmetology in high school, and then finished Beauty College after marrying John. They’d gone to school together and John graduated two years ahead of her. She’d had a crush on him all the way through school, but never let anyone know. He’d never noticed her until one Sunday, while on leave from the Army, he’d come to the church picnic with his parents. She noticed him watching her, so she walked over to him and struck up a conversation, from that day on they were a couple.
Once John got out of the Army, he took a job in sales at the Pontiac dealership in Marietta, Georgia. Margie went to work as a hairdresser to help make ends meet. They’d been married fifteen months when she got pregnant with her oldest daughter Cathy. Margie worked until seven months pregnant before going on maternity leave. From the time she was born, Cathy was her father’s pride and joy. He would rush home from work to be with his wife and daughter.
Margie returned to work part-time when Cathy was two months old. She didn’t want to leave her baby girl all day long. Two years later Margie got pregnant with Cassie. With two small children, she had her hands full and didn’t go back to work, at least, until after her husband died.
John Robbins was a good husband and a wonderful father. He loved his wife and adored his two baby girls. John had grown up in a house with three older sisters, and knew how to respect women. The night he died, he was driving home from work. He’d been named salesman of the year, receiving a two thousand dollar bonus and a paid vacation to Orlando Florida. They’d often talked about going on a vacation, but couldn’t afford it. The police report stated that he died instantly on impact. He was speeding. The traffic ahead was at a standstill. His small compact car slid under an eighteen wheeler and caught on the truck’s back axle.
Margie was a young woman, but she never remarried. John was the only man she had ever loved. She opened her shop and worked six days a week. She wanted her girls to have everything they needed and knew the insurance money would eventually run out. Sunday was her day to rest and take her girls to church. They never missed a Sunday. Margie was raised in church, her father was a Baptist Pastor and her mother played the organ and was church secretary. She wanted her own children to grow up in a Christian environment as well.


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Publication Date: 10-22-2009

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