Dean was very similar to his father in that he showed very little feelings and only had a few friends that were very close to him. Among them was Runaway Joe, his Indian friend, who introduced him to a wonderful wild Mustang called Tracquill. He had a very special friendship with a crippled young lady, called Rosie Poppalongski, the daughter of the neighboring farm. After the destruction of Kingdom, Dean set out to establish Kingdom and Foundation, becoming one of the largest cattle herd in the Southern States. The last member of the Rawlinson family spent most of his time in Europe surviving the Nazi regime and also assisting people to escape from East Germany to West Germany from the communist party.

Dean was very similar to his father in that he showed very little feelings and only had a few friends that were very close to him. Among them was Runaway Joe, his Indian friend, who introduced him to a wonderful wild Mustang called Tracquill. He had a very special friendship with a crippled young lady, called Rosie Poppalongski, the daughter of the neighboring farm. After the destruction of Kingdom, Dean set out to establish Kingdom and Foundation, becoming one of the largest cattle herd in the Southern States. The last member of the Rawlinson family spent most of his time in Europe surviving the Nazi regime and also assisting people to escape from East Germany to West Germany from the communist party.

Dean was very similar to his father in that he showed very little feelings and only had a few friends that were very close to him. Among them was Runaway Joe, his Indian friend, who introduced him to a wonderful wild Mustang called Tracquill. He had a very special friendship with a crippled young lady, called Rosie Poppalongski, the daughter of the neighboring farm. After the destruction of Kingdom, Dean set out to establish Kingdom and Foundation, becoming one of the largest cattle herd in the Southern States. The last member of the Rawlinson family spent most of his time in Europe surviving the Nazi regime and also assisting people to escape from East Germany to West Germany from the communist party.

Kingdom is one of the largest plantations in the southern states and Camberley has become one of the most important estates in the whole area. Hector and Anne were married in 1823. The coloured employee servants of the estate referred to her as Lady Anna. The union between the two of them produced four sons, Charles, Joseph, Jim and John. To complete the family tree, Hector was also to sire a bastard son called Dean. Hector was constantly trying to improve and change the present way of living in this young nation. He was against race and coloured bar, always trying to bring people closer together. It was very difficult, as he had to overcome the bitterness as a result of the wars of American Independence from 1775 to 1783 and then deal with the Civil War of 1861. He was totally against the fact that, in a number of cases, a family of father and son or brother versus brother took up arms against each other during this warring period. Even when the Union Army and the Confederate Army were each side of Kingdom, he would not be drawn into the war. Long before this period in time, Hector and Ann had many very difficult and unpleasant problems to overcome which will unfold in this volume of Kingdom and Foundation.

Kingdom is one of the largest plantations in the southern states and Camberley has become one of the most important estates in the whole area. Hector and Anne were married in 1823. The coloured employee servants of the estate referred to her as Lady Anna. The union between the two of them produced four sons, Charles, Joseph, Jim and John. To complete the family tree, Hector was also to sire a bastard son called Dean. Hector was constantly trying to improve and change the present way of living in this young nation. He was against race and coloured bar, always trying to bring people closer together. It was very difficult, as he had to overcome the bitterness as a result of the wars of American Independence from 1775 to 1783 and then deal with the Civil War of 1861. He was totally against the fact that, in a number of cases, a family of father and son or brother versus brother took up arms against each other during this warring period. Even when the Union Army and the Confederate Army were each side of Kingdom, he would not be drawn into the war. Long before this period in time, Hector and Ann had many very difficult and unpleasant problems to overcome which will unfold in this volume of Kingdom and Foundation.

Kingdom is one of the largest plantations in the southern states and Camberley has become one of the most important estates in the whole area. Hector and Anne were married in 1823. The coloured employee servants of the estate referred to her as Lady Anna. The union between the two of them produced four sons, Charles, Joseph, Jim and John. To complete the family tree, Hector was also to sire a bastard son called Dean. Hector was constantly trying to improve and change the present way of living in this young nation. He was against race and coloured bar, always trying to bring people closer together. It was very difficult, as he had to overcome the bitterness as a result of the wars of American Independence from 1775 to 1783 and then deal with the Civil War of 1861. He was totally against the fact that, in a number of cases, a family of father and son or brother versus brother took up arms against each other during this warring period. Even when the Union Army and the Confederate Army were each side of Kingdom, he would not be drawn into the war. Long before this period in time, Hector and Ann had many very difficult and unpleasant problems to overcome which will unfold in this volume of Kingdom and Foundation.

�The Bluebell Wood� is a vivid portrayal of life in war-torn areas around the world through the eyes of the children

BRISBANE, Australia � (Release Date TBD) � Inspired by personal experience and her life�s journey, author Caroline Cressey offers hope and inspiration to all her readers as she releases her new book, The Bluebell Wood. Through this wonderful tale, readers will discover more about life and the purpose of their existence.

Set in the United Kingdom in the 1990s, The Bluebell Wood revolves around the refugee, orphaned and abused children and describes life in war-torn areas throughout the world. Here, readers will find the story of how a particular group of children are then rescued by the headmistress of a convent, Sister More. It is a story that reveals the importance of love and what happens when children are deprived of this, their birthright. The book also describes, through events, how parents and guardians hurt children in subtle and not so subtle ways. The book suggests that children are highly sensitive and often more mature in thinking than most adults give them credit for.

In The Bluebell Wood, Cressey has written an engaging narrative that will appeal to all those interested in the very political events in war-torn countries. Unique and interesting this book will entice readers because it will allow them to know that the trauma suffered by refugee, orphaned and abused children is not a subject often covered in fiction today.

For more information on this book, interested parties can log on to www.Xlibris.com.au.

�The Bluebell Wood� is a vivid portrayal of life in war-torn areas around the world through the eyes of the children

BRISBANE, Australia � (Release Date TBD) � Inspired by personal experience and her life�s journey, author Caroline Cressey offers hope and inspiration to all her readers as she releases her new book, The Bluebell Wood. Through this wonderful tale, readers will discover more about life and the purpose of their existence.

Set in the United Kingdom in the 1990s, The Bluebell Wood revolves around the refugee, orphaned and abused children and describes life in war-torn areas throughout the world. Here, readers will find the story of how a particular group of children are then rescued by the headmistress of a convent, Sister More. It is a story that reveals the importance of love and what happens when children are deprived of this, their birthright. The book also describes, through events, how parents and guardians hurt children in subtle and not so subtle ways. The book suggests that children are highly sensitive and often more mature in thinking than most adults give them credit for.

In The Bluebell Wood, Cressey has written an engaging narrative that will appeal to all those interested in the very political events in war-torn countries. Unique and interesting this book will entice readers because it will allow them to know that the trauma suffered by refugee, orphaned and abused children is not a subject often covered in fiction today.

For more information on this book, interested parties can log on to www.Xlibris.com.au.

�The Bluebell Wood� is a vivid portrayal of life in war-torn areas around the world through the eyes of the children

BRISBANE, Australia � (Release Date TBD) � Inspired by personal experience and her life�s journey, author Caroline Cressey offers hope and inspiration to all her readers as she releases her new book, The Bluebell Wood. Through this wonderful tale, readers will discover more about life and the purpose of their existence.

Set in the United Kingdom in the 1990s, The Bluebell Wood revolves around the refugee, orphaned and abused children and describes life in war-torn areas throughout the world. Here, readers will find the story of how a particular group of children are then rescued by the headmistress of a convent, Sister More. It is a story that reveals the importance of love and what happens when children are deprived of this, their birthright. The book also describes, through events, how parents and guardians hurt children in subtle and not so subtle ways. The book suggests that children are highly sensitive and often more mature in thinking than most adults give them credit for.

In The Bluebell Wood, Cressey has written an engaging narrative that will appeal to all those interested in the very political events in war-torn countries. Unique and interesting this book will entice readers because it will allow them to know that the trauma suffered by refugee, orphaned and abused children is not a subject often covered in fiction today.

For more information on this book, interested parties can log on to www.Xlibris.com.au.

On Saturday, Dan went down a law office located at San Gabriel with Mei. The female lawyer wearing a pair of glasses and was tall and slim, she handed them a few legal forms to sign, meantime the lawyer asked them, �Do you need to prepare a contract for provisions on how child and property will be handled after your divorce is settled?� They shook their heads and Mei echoed, �We don�t have our own property in the United States, our daughter will be taken care by her father financially and I trust him. You don�t need to write an agreement.� Mei glanced at Dan after she ended her answer, Dan nodded. �Okay, your case is pretty simple, I believe your dissolution of marriage will be approved by the court quickly,� said the lawyer. Soon they stood up to shake hand with the lawyer and then stepped out of the law office. Dan parked his car in the underground parking lot in the office building, Dan didn�t press the button of underground parking lot but the button of the first floor lobby after they entered into the elevator. �You pressed the wrong button,� Mei said and was reaching over to turn on the button of underground parking lot. Dan stopped her with his hand and echoed, �I didn�t press the wrong button, I would like to show you to a place outside this building.� �Where?� Mei asked. �When we get there, you will know, it is very close to this building.� After they walked out the office building, they turned right on the local street. In a couple of minutes, they stopped in front of a small gray building with different business signage attached over square windows. Mei followed him, and they entered into the building and were heading to the very end of the hallway on the first floor. They stopped in front of the unit and the entry door attached a sign �Petrel Travel Agency.� The door was left open, a couple of customers were seating there to talk with travel agents across them at the tables. �Why do you take me here?� Mei asked. Dan smiled and said, �Before you go back China, I want you to join a tour group to visit some sceneries in the East Coast.� �No, I don�t want to go, I�m not in a good mood to go.� �Please face the reality, at least you don�t have time to visit U.S. recent years once you go back China for your new position. Please take the last chance enjoying major scenic spots in the East Coast.� Dan�s repeated suggestions seemed to sway Mei, she checked the shelves by the wall, a number of tour brochures were lined on shelves. She skimmed different brochures but had no ideas where she should go. Dan had been checking these travel brochures carefully, he took each of these travel booklets to read its details. �This tour fits your schedule,� Dan handed one brochure to Mei. �This is a 5 day tour to the East Coast, the tour starts in New York city next Monday and you will visit Washington DC, Philadelphia, Boston and Niagara Falls at Canada border. You will fly back LA next Friday.� Mei�s eyes turned to the booklet, �Let me see,� she took the brochure from Dan�s hand. Mei stared at the brochure for a few minutes and responded, �The tour looks good to fit my schedule.� Dan relaxed and echoed, �All right, I�ll book your tour now.� When one customer just left, Dan stepped forward and sat on the chair opposite a middle-age female travel agent. Mei sat on the other chair next to him. The agent looked up and asked, �How may I help you, Sir?� Dan took the brochure out of Mei�s hand and put it on the table, �Please help me book this tour.� The agent caught the brochure and glanced at it, �Okay, I still have the vacancy for the tour. How many people join the tour?� �Just one, it�s for my ---,�Dan�s throat was stuck and felt he would almost say a wrong word. After they filed the dissolution of marriage, he hardly called Mei his wife. Sorry, just one person, it�s for her,� he pointed at Mei toward the agent and corrected his words. After Dan booked the tour for Mei, they left the travel agency and headed to their home. When Dan was driving, Mei was curious to ask, �Why did you want to book the tour for me?� Dan didn�t responded instantly but sighed deeply. Soon afterwards, Dan echoed, �I feel I owe you too much, I try to compensate your loss.� His words surprised Mei and she was startled a little. �It�s too late, I�m glad you understand it,� she paused a second and went on, �In the future, all my hopes about one point, you must treat our daughter very well and you should improve your relationship with her.� Dan was touched and his eyes welling up. �I will, I will certainly will. You don�t need to worry about it.� �Also, after I leave, you should take more cares about Yu Jie as you are the only parent lives with her in the future.� Dan nodded, �Sure does.� When their vehicle stopped at a stop sign, Dan began, �I almost forget as my cousin called me yesterday, she wishes if we could have a family gathering on this coming Saturday.� �Absolutely impossible, I will come back from the tour next Friday and have one day to pack my personal belongs and will depart at LAX Saturday night.� �That�s okay, I just check you.� �I get to tell you, even though I have enough time now, I don�t like to see your cousin. You know why. We have to keep our secret of divorce seriously, once Yu Jie know the fact and she will get hurt and then you get big trouble.� �Sooner or later, she should know the fact.� �I don�t want her to know our secret now, I will let her know it after she graduates from college in the future.� Dan pondered for a few seconds and answered, �I agree with you.� *** Monday morning, Dan drove Mei LAX airport and made wishes that she would have a pleasant trip to the East Coast. When Mei dropped off, Dan handed her a plastic bag and Mei stunned, �What about this?� Dan smiled and said, �These are all your favorite snacks.� �Thank you.� Mei turned away and soon disappeared into the crowd. Dan hit the engine and left the airport, heading to his work. It was just the rush hours and the freeway 105 was congested, he tried to calm down himself, �Don�t rush and take time.� Even though it was a sunny day, Dan was depressed because he had been immersing himself in the negative emotion since he signed his dissolution of marriage. He had strong self-esteem and would rather pretend a strong man than exposed his sentiment when he would face the people around him and his families. He couldn�t talk to anybody about his family secret and sadness, he pretended his behavior as normal as he used to be. However, in the abyss of his heart he felt sharp pain as he was facing a broken home. Dan went through all the experiences of his life with Mei, thinking back on their happy times and disputes of family matters, trying to locate any troubles due to his faults. He concluded his marriage, �It is made in heaven, this is his fate.� He tried not to think about these past sad experiences, but he could not get rid of them. He repeatedly reminded himself that the marriage was his previous page and he had to turn on a new page of his future life. Dan thought about her daughter, his whereabouts out of work had been resulting in her suspicion if he could not return home on regular time. He realized her sensitiveness, he always called home to let her know if he could not return home at regular time because of his work. Otherwise, Yu Jie would call him to check where he was and she could create suspicious thinking that he was being with a woman. He was frustrated by her daughter�s suspicious attitude and understood it was resulted from the disputes between Mei and him. A couple of days ago, Dan found out a female Chinese housekeeper through the ad of a Chinese newspaper and interviewed her yesterday when Mei was home. The housekeeper looked in the middle forties and a woman of robust frame, she said she came from Shenyang, a provincial city in the northern China, and she had worked as a teacher in the kindergarten. Later she talked to Yu Jie patiently and was an amiable person, Yu Jie liked her so they hired her immediately. The housekeeper would take care of Yu Jie after Mei returned China. He had a sense of relief after he settled it. Dan sighed deeply and thought it had to take a long time for Yu Jie to have confidence in him if he tried to win the trust of her. He was aware of the truth that one of important lessons of life was to learn how to get success out of defeat. He was proud of himself now as he was making efforts for the goal. *** Mei came back pleasantly from the tour on Friday afternoon. She talked with her daughter about every scenic spot she had travelled through and they enjoyed some pictures she had taken on the trip. Dan was delighted as his aim had been reached. Just like a storm was over and the wind was quieted down, after their dinner, Dan talked to Mei with ease about their future plan how to raise Yu Jie. They talked quietly more like a pair of friends, now they believed that they had a lot in common and many more similar ideas than differences. Dan opened his password lock suitcase in the closet, and he reached for his new black wallet and took $5000 out of it. He handed the money to Mei and said, �I withdrew $5000 from bank account yesterday, please keep these money for your future living expenses and I know you spent a lot of money before you came to the States.� Mei was surprised to see the money because it was not a minor amount, she echoed, �I can�t take these money and you need money to take care of Yu Jie after I leave, thank you anyway.� Dan paused a second and went on, �You don�t need to worry about the money I need in the future, now I earn enough money to support our life. Comparing with us, you will have low income in China and need the money to improve your quality of life.� She took half of money and gave the other half back to Dan, �Okay, I agree I can only keep half.� However, Dan insisted that Mei should keep all the money he gave her. At Dan�s insistence, she had to keep $5000 and put the money into her suitcase. Then she moved on a chair and talked to Dan, �I wish you not only could take care of Yu Jie�s lives but also could urge her to study hard. Don�t spoil her but keep tending her grow up healthily.� He nodded, �I understand it, no worries, make your mind ease. We can talk about Yu Jie on the phone all the time in the future. We divorced but Yu Jie is our daughter and the fact can�t be changed, bringing up her is our common responsibility.� It was their last night they got together in the same room. The sky was full of stars. When they went to bed, Dan lay awake for a very long time, thinking of his future life. To become a good father, his first thought was how to set a good example to Yu Jie. There was only one answer, he had to cherish her daughter�s feeling and set his self-discipline to become a moderate parent whose authority Yu Jie could accept and respect. Mei�s steady breathing reminded him that she was falling asleep. He sat up and looked for his slippers, then tiptoed out of his bedroom and out onto the balcony. He watched the stars, which burned so brightly they seemed fixed in the sky. The night sky was a beautiful picture, he remembered the old saying: the movement of stars could control human�s destines. He traced the lines between the stars and wondered which star was connected to his fate. Was it a dream, what happened next, or a kind of waking vision? Anyway, he felt he was clear in his mind, if this was a dream, he thought it was a broken dream. He had earned a master degree from a famous US university and was working in a high-paying job, yet he lost the most precious thing in his life: his family. A sound hurtled through him, �Your losses more than gains.�

On Saturday, Dan went down a law office located at San Gabriel with Mei. The female lawyer wearing a pair of glasses and was tall and slim, she handed them a few legal forms to sign, meantime the lawyer asked them, �Do you need to prepare a contract for provisions on how child and property will be handled after your divorce is settled?� They shook their heads and Mei echoed, �We don�t have our own property in the United States, our daughter will be taken care by her father financially and I trust him. You don�t need to write an agreement.� Mei glanced at Dan after she ended her answer, Dan nodded. �Okay, your case is pretty simple, I believe your dissolution of marriage will be approved by the court quickly,� said the lawyer. Soon they stood up to shake hand with the lawyer and then stepped out of the law office. Dan parked his car in the underground parking lot in the office building, Dan didn�t press the button of underground parking lot but the button of the first floor lobby after they entered into the elevator. �You pressed the wrong button,� Mei said and was reaching over to turn on the button of underground parking lot. Dan stopped her with his hand and echoed, �I didn�t press the wrong button, I would like to show you to a place outside this building.� �Where?� Mei asked. �When we get there, you will know, it is very close to this building.� After they walked out the office building, they turned right on the local street. In a couple of minutes, they stopped in front of a small gray building with different business signage attached over square windows. Mei followed him, and they entered into the building and were heading to the very end of the hallway on the first floor. They stopped in front of the unit and the entry door attached a sign �Petrel Travel Agency.� The door was left open, a couple of customers were seating there to talk with travel agents across them at the tables. �Why do you take me here?� Mei asked. Dan smiled and said, �Before you go back China, I want you to join a tour group to visit some sceneries in the East Coast.� �No, I don�t want to go, I�m not in a good mood to go.� �Please face the reality, at least you don�t have time to visit U.S. recent years once you go back China for your new position. Please take the last chance enjoying major scenic spots in the East Coast.� Dan�s repeated suggestions seemed to sway Mei, she checked the shelves by the wall, a number of tour brochures were lined on shelves. She skimmed different brochures but had no ideas where she should go. Dan had been checking these travel brochures carefully, he took each of these travel booklets to read its details. �This tour fits your schedule,� Dan handed one brochure to Mei. �This is a 5 day tour to the East Coast, the tour starts in New York city next Monday and you will visit Washington DC, Philadelphia, Boston and Niagara Falls at Canada border. You will fly back LA next Friday.� Mei�s eyes turned to the booklet, �Let me see,� she took the brochure from Dan�s hand. Mei stared at the brochure for a few minutes and responded, �The tour looks good to fit my schedule.� Dan relaxed and echoed, �All right, I�ll book your tour now.� When one customer just left, Dan stepped forward and sat on the chair opposite a middle-age female travel agent. Mei sat on the other chair next to him. The agent looked up and asked, �How may I help you, Sir?� Dan took the brochure out of Mei�s hand and put it on the table, �Please help me book this tour.� The agent caught the brochure and glanced at it, �Okay, I still have the vacancy for the tour. How many people join the tour?� �Just one, it�s for my ---,�Dan�s throat was stuck and felt he would almost say a wrong word. After they filed the dissolution of marriage, he hardly called Mei his wife. Sorry, just one person, it�s for her,� he pointed at Mei toward the agent and corrected his words. After Dan booked the tour for Mei, they left the travel agency and headed to their home. When Dan was driving, Mei was curious to ask, �Why did you want to book the tour for me?� Dan didn�t responded instantly but sighed deeply. Soon afterwards, Dan echoed, �I feel I owe you too much, I try to compensate your loss.� His words surprised Mei and she was startled a little. �It�s too late, I�m glad you understand it,� she paused a second and went on, �In the future, all my hopes about one point, you must treat our daughter very well and you should improve your relationship with her.� Dan was touched and his eyes welling up. �I will, I will certainly will. You don�t need to worry about it.� �Also, after I leave, you should take more cares about Yu Jie as you are the only parent lives with her in the future.� Dan nodded, �Sure does.� When their vehicle stopped at a stop sign, Dan began, �I almost forget as my cousin called me yesterday, she wishes if we could have a family gathering on this coming Saturday.� �Absolutely impossible, I will come back from the tour next Friday and have one day to pack my personal belongs and will depart at LAX Saturday night.� �That�s okay, I just check you.� �I get to tell you, even though I have enough time now, I don�t like to see your cousin. You know why. We have to keep our secret of divorce seriously, once Yu Jie know the fact and she will get hurt and then you get big trouble.� �Sooner or later, she should know the fact.� �I don�t want her to know our secret now, I will let her know it after she graduates from college in the future.� Dan pondered for a few seconds and answered, �I agree with you.� *** Monday morning, Dan drove Mei LAX airport and made wishes that she would have a pleasant trip to the East Coast. When Mei dropped off, Dan handed her a plastic bag and Mei stunned, �What about this?� Dan smiled and said, �These are all your favorite snacks.� �Thank you.� Mei turned away and soon disappeared into the crowd. Dan hit the engine and left the airport, heading to his work. It was just the rush hours and the freeway 105 was congested, he tried to calm down himself, �Don�t rush and take time.� Even though it was a sunny day, Dan was depressed because he had been immersing himself in the negative emotion since he signed his dissolution of marriage. He had strong self-esteem and would rather pretend a strong man than exposed his sentiment when he would face the people around him and his families. He couldn�t talk to anybody about his family secret and sadness, he pretended his behavior as normal as he used to be. However, in the abyss of his heart he felt sharp pain as he was facing a broken home. Dan went through all the experiences of his life with Mei, thinking back on their happy times and disputes of family matters, trying to locate any troubles due to his faults. He concluded his marriage, �It is made in heaven, this is his fate.� He tried not to think about these past sad experiences, but he could not get rid of them. He repeatedly reminded himself that the marriage was his previous page and he had to turn on a new page of his future life. Dan thought about her daughter, his whereabouts out of work had been resulting in her suspicion if he could not return home on regular time. He realized her sensitiveness, he always called home to let her know if he could not return home at regular time because of his work. Otherwise, Yu Jie would call him to check where he was and she could create suspicious thinking that he was being with a woman. He was frustrated by her daughter�s suspicious attitude and understood it was resulted from the disputes between Mei and him. A couple of days ago, Dan found out a female Chinese housekeeper through the ad of a Chinese newspaper and interviewed her yesterday when Mei was home. The housekeeper looked in the middle forties and a woman of robust frame, she said she came from Shenyang, a provincial city in the northern China, and she had worked as a teacher in the kindergarten. Later she talked to Yu Jie patiently and was an amiable person, Yu Jie liked her so they hired her immediately. The housekeeper would take care of Yu Jie after Mei returned China. He had a sense of relief after he settled it. Dan sighed deeply and thought it had to take a long time for Yu Jie to have confidence in him if he tried to win the trust of her. He was aware of the truth that one of important lessons of life was to learn how to get success out of defeat. He was proud of himself now as he was making efforts for the goal. *** Mei came back pleasantly from the tour on Friday afternoon. She talked with her daughter about every scenic spot she had travelled through and they enjoyed some pictures she had taken on the trip. Dan was delighted as his aim had been reached. Just like a storm was over and the wind was quieted down, after their dinner, Dan talked to Mei with ease about their future plan how to raise Yu Jie. They talked quietly more like a pair of friends, now they believed that they had a lot in common and many more similar ideas than differences. Dan opened his password lock suitcase in the closet, and he reached for his new black wallet and took $5000 out of it. He handed the money to Mei and said, �I withdrew $5000 from bank account yesterday, please keep these money for your future living expenses and I know you spent a lot of money before you came to the States.� Mei was surprised to see the money because it was not a minor amount, she echoed, �I can�t take these money and you need money to take care of Yu Jie after I leave, thank you anyway.� Dan paused a second and went on, �You don�t need to worry about the money I need in the future, now I earn enough money to support our life. Comparing with us, you will have low income in China and need the money to improve your quality of life.� She took half of money and gave the other half back to Dan, �Okay, I agree I can only keep half.� However, Dan insisted that Mei should keep all the money he gave her. At Dan�s insistence, she had to keep $5000 and put the money into her suitcase. Then she moved on a chair and talked to Dan, �I wish you not only could take care of Yu Jie�s lives but also could urge her to study hard. Don�t spoil her but keep tending her grow up healthily.� He nodded, �I understand it, no worries, make your mind ease. We can talk about Yu Jie on the phone all the time in the future. We divorced but Yu Jie is our daughter and the fact can�t be changed, bringing up her is our common responsibility.� It was their last night they got together in the same room. The sky was full of stars. When they went to bed, Dan lay awake for a very long time, thinking of his future life. To become a good father, his first thought was how to set a good example to Yu Jie. There was only one answer, he had to cherish her daughter�s feeling and set his self-discipline to become a moderate parent whose authority Yu Jie could accept and respect. Mei�s steady breathing reminded him that she was falling asleep. He sat up and looked for his slippers, then tiptoed out of his bedroom and out onto the balcony. He watched the stars, which burned so brightly they seemed fixed in the sky. The night sky was a beautiful picture, he remembered the old saying: the movement of stars could control human�s destines. He traced the lines between the stars and wondered which star was connected to his fate. Was it a dream, what happened next, or a kind of waking vision? Anyway, he felt he was clear in his mind, if this was a dream, he thought it was a broken dream. He had earned a master degree from a famous US university and was working in a high-paying job, yet he lost the most precious thing in his life: his family. A sound hurtled through him, �Your losses more than gains.�

Book Summary Fully capable and fiercely independent at the age of seventy-four, Marjorie Palmer is unexpectedly reunited with her wayward daughters-in-law, Sandra and Kate, to perform a rather unpleasant task. Unrelated by blood yet bound by family ties, the three women have diametrically opposed personalities and can barely tolerate each other. All of them harbor hidden agendas and well kept secrets. When a twist of fate threatens to prolong their unintentional cohabitation indefinitely, tempers flare and things begin to unravel. Beautifully set in the White Mountains, Caring for Crabgrass is about the precarious journey these three women must travel together before any of them can reach the summit of resolution.

Book Summary Fully capable and fiercely independent at the age of seventy-four, Marjorie Palmer is unexpectedly reunited with her wayward daughters-in-law, Sandra and Kate, to perform a rather unpleasant task. Unrelated by blood yet bound by family ties, the three women have diametrically opposed personalities and can barely tolerate each other. All of them harbor hidden agendas and well kept secrets. When a twist of fate threatens to prolong their unintentional cohabitation indefinitely, tempers flare and things begin to unravel. Beautifully set in the White Mountains, Caring for Crabgrass is about the precarious journey these three women must travel together before any of them can reach the summit of resolution.

Book Summary Fully capable and fiercely independent at the age of seventy-four, Marjorie Palmer is unexpectedly reunited with her wayward daughters-in-law, Sandra and Kate, to perform a rather unpleasant task. Unrelated by blood yet bound by family ties, the three women have diametrically opposed personalities and can barely tolerate each other. All of them harbor hidden agendas and well kept secrets. When a twist of fate threatens to prolong their unintentional cohabitation indefinitely, tempers flare and things begin to unravel. Beautifully set in the White Mountains, Caring for Crabgrass is about the precarious journey these three women must travel together before any of them can reach the summit of resolution.

Maddy, a 90-year old Jewish woman is dying. There is something important she wants to tell her daughter but she cannot remember. She is reincarnated as gentile girl Terri and has another chance to get the info to her family. As she grows up, Terri speaks Yiddish and plays the piano. Terri's friend, Ron is sure he used to be a girl. His father is a homophobic bigot who makes his son's life miserable. The story follows the children through the first 22 years of their lives. Terri and her older sister, Roz have many humorous adventures. There are hard times too.