The Ice Queen

The Vine

2010-02-22T18:30:00.003-06:00

"I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing." John 15:5

I recently heard a sermon on John 15. Christ's description of our relationship is one that we all can relate to. Weeding, cutting and thinning out the dead and unproductive parts of our shrubs and vines. Piling them up at the road for the trash man to come and haul away.

Our nourishment comes from Christ. Our roots are in Him. He is the life running through our veins.

He tells us that he abides in us.

Close your eyes and listen to your heartbeat...do you hear Jesus, Jesus, Jesus with every beat?

I forgot my humble pill this morning...but God made sure I took it.

2010-02-20T22:20:00.010-06:00

I sat in front of him...singing together a familiar song. I could hear his voice, gruff and strained. Instead of focusing on the words of the song, my mind wandered to that man.

"Wow, the struggles he faces every day. He must be so tired from the temptations that stalk him all the time. He sounds so desperate...but hopeful. It sounds like he is clinging to every word, realizing that God hears him. He's pouring his heart out. God is working on the broken road that is his life. I am so glad he is here today."

After a moment of contemplating his life of addiction, it finally occurred to me that the song we were singing was not just for him. Although our temptations and sin may look different, my brokenness and desperation for my Savior is no different. My thoughts were describing me, not the broken man sitting behind me.

Waves of thankfulness came over me...thankful to have the privilege of worshipping God WITH this man. His repentant and hopeful heart was a more acceptable sacrifice to God than my wandering mind.

I can only imagine
What it will be like
When I walk
By your side

I can only imagine
What my eyes will see
When your face
Is before me
I can only imagine

I can only imagine

Surrounded by Your glory, what will my heart feel
Will I dance for you Jesus or in honor of you be still
Will I stand in your presence or to my knees will I fall
Will I sing hallelujah, will I be able to speak at all
I can only imagine

"I Can Only Imagine" Mercy Me

Crossroads

2009-04-27T20:45:00.004-05:00

Time...not sure where it goes. The past few months have been a blur of activity. I graduated last Friday. Woohoo! I am glad to move on from this chapter, but am so thankful I was given the opportunity.

Now, I find myself at another crossroads. I solicit your prayers as we try to make the right decisions about our family's future. I am praying our family will be back together soon, praying that we can give our children the love, time and support they need and praying for a JOB!

The lyrics to a song by Nichole Nordeman have been food for the soul lately...

When the sun starts to rise and I open my eyes
You are good, so good
In the heat of the day, with each stone that I lay
You are good, so good
With every breath I take in
I'll tell you I'm grateful again
When the moon rises high before each kiss goodnight
You are good.

When the road starts to turn, around each bend I learn
You are good, so good
And when somebody's hand holds me up, helps me stand
You are SO good
With every breath I take in
I'll tell you I'm grateful again
Cause it's more than enough just to know I am loved
And you ARE good

So, how can I thank you?
What can I bring?
What can a poor man lay at the feet of a King?
So I'll sing you a love song
It's all that I have
To tell you I'm grateful for holding my life in Your hands.

When it's dark and it's cold, and I can't feel my soul
You are...STILL good
When the world has gone gray, and the rain's here to stay
You are still good
With every breath I take in
I'll tell you I'm grateful again
And the storm may swell, even then 'It is Well'
And YOU ARE GOOD!

So, how can I thank you?
What can I bring?
What can a poor man lay at the feet of a King?
So I'll sing you a love song
It's all that I have
To tell you I'm grateful for holding my life in Your hands

So I'll sing you a love song!
It's all the I have!
To tell you I'm grateful for holding my life in Your hands!!
YOU ARE HOLDING MY LIFE IN YOUR HANDS!!!

Christmas Magic

2008-12-23T21:37:00.009-06:00

Trek took this picture of my two youngest kidlets while we waited in line to see Santa.

I remember the magic of sitting on Santa's lap as a child, so excited to see the guy in the red suit.

As an adult, the closest I have come to feeling that Christmas magic is standing in front of the snow covered tree in Rockefeller Center. The vision of skaters on the ice, the shoppers with arms full of packages, the Christmas music playing overhead, and the smell of the clean snow falling from the sky was a dream come true to this displaced Northern girl from Alabama.

Oh, how I want my children to have the opportunities to make wonderful memories. It is the images, sounds, and smells burned in their memories that will hopefully bring great joy to them as adults.

Many times, in the hustle and bustle of our adult lives, it is easy to forget that our children are in the midst of experiencing magical new things. We, too, would be happier adults if we could enjoy the simple joys that our children experience everyday.

Where would we be without our memories? Isn't there so much happiness in recalling a favorite memory?

Take a moment to recall a magical childhood memory and let it take you back....

Martha Stewart just called...she could smell our supper from her house.

2008-12-08T18:55:00.004-06:00

I know some don't believe me when I say things like...

"I can't be trusted in the kitchen"
"I have to be supervised in the kitchen"
"I can't cook, no I REALLY can't"
"I hate to cook"

This is just a glimpse at the wonderful, delectable dishes I prepare while standing in my well-equipped kitchen in my freshly pressed apron...

I just got off the phone with Martha Stewart...she wanted my recipe for
"Freshly Burnt Cheese Sandwiches."

Just call him Jack Bauer!

2008-12-05T12:40:00.007-06:00

Trek just sent this to me.

In case you are confused about what you are looking at, this is the view Trek had of the SWAT team pulling up with weapons drawn to take the criminal down.

Wow, what an exciting life my Jack Bauer...I mean Trek leads. Now that I think about it...he does kind of remind me of him...hmmmm.

Mental note: Christmas present for Trek...Two tone Sig 228 pistol.

But I don't have my shopping done!

2008-12-04T22:01:00.004-06:00

Here is the crew...bundled up in 15 layers of clothes for our town's annual Christmas parade. Brrrrr!

Count Your Many Blessings

2008-12-01T16:50:00.007-06:00

I'm reminded of a song I learned years ago in worship that says "...count your blessings name them one by one, count your many blessings see what God has done." I feel compelled to write them down now, maybe not for the three of you that read my blog, but for me to see how God has worked over and over again, never leaving us alone.

To summarize...

1. Ice Queen goes to school

2. Trek gets laid off

3. House sells

4. Move to new house
5. Trek gets new job 200 resumes later...in city 3 hours away...can anyone say "4:1 kidlets to parent ratio 5 days a week!"

I sit and recall the happenings of our life over the past few months and cannot help but be so thankful....

School is a challenge but is exactly what I had hoped it would be.

Trek lost his job because of the housing slump but with the loss came the loss of so many worry lines on his face.

The house sold after 4 days on the market in an economy where NOTHING is selling right now. I realized in the process that the house is made of just wood and bricks...we took our 4 treasures with us.

We moved to a different house that is a little rough around the edges, but is located where help with little ones is literally steps away.

Trek got a new job 3 hours away...but we are SO thankful for a job! It holds promise of new experiences, new challenges and new adventures! We don't know where the road will lead, but we know it will be interesting along the way.

George had a great first football season. He learned the game from a committed coach that taught him so much about respect and teamwork.

Twirl continues to be challenged to learn more difficult dance routines and more difficult art techniques.

Halloween was a nice reprieve of family time with loads of chocolate in the midst of our crazy life!

Turkey Day was spent with wonderful friends that we came to know because of Hurricane Katrina. Sometimes the best things in life come from the worst of times! This Thanksgiving we were introduced to a strange new bird called Turducken...don't know what it is?...LOOK IT UP! The real question is...does it gobble, quack or cluck?

The road is still bumpy and I solicit your prayers. There have been a lot of tears and worry over the past few months, but I can honestly say that God has been faithful. I have seen his presence over and over. I don't deserve his blessings, but am so thankful for them.

I have SUCH an exciting life!

2008-09-28T20:03:00.006-05:00

Here is just a few of the heart stopping highlights from the past month...

I gave blood on a bus that reminds me of

Instead of getting a pizza dinner like Shaggy...I got a XXXXL t-shirt and two huge bruises on my leg. (I'll save you the visual) They took a hammer and beat my leg because I flinched when they came at me with the 75 gauge shotgun...I mean needle with which they intended to remove my blood.

(Okay, sorry that's not true that's just my fiction writer wanna be alter ego coming out.)

Back on track...here's the facts

pizza dinner - did not get

XXXXL t-shirt - kind of true, it may have been an XL but it was big enough to put on all four of my kids...AT ONCE

bruises on leg - true but not from a hammer but from yours truly Ms. Graceful running into the huge metal thingy protruding from the side of the bed that they hang the blood bag on

75 gauge needle - I don't know but it was a big mama needle and felt like 75 vampires sucking on my arm

But all discomfort and bruises aside, I want to give a shout out to the two awesome vampire women that entertained Monkey and Little Bit while I was laying on the bed willing myself to hang on for the reward...the XXXXXL t-shirt!

Another day another story....

I decided today that I should be an instructor for the "I have a huge family and I'm trying to buy for the entire year, okay month, and I will NOT submit to filling one cart and parking it at the front and starting on another one but WILL fit everything I need in this one cart that barely holds enough groceries for one person...balance, balance...stop looking at me like I'm an alien fellow shoppers" class.

Classes start Monday...cost of enrollment...my grocery bill!

Happy Birthday Gabrielle!

2008-09-07T19:37:00.003-05:00

Our dear friends from New Orleans spent part of the week with us when Gustav came to visit the coast. Gabrielle turns 14 today! We are very proud of the sweet young lady she is becoming.

"That luxury jet was over the top. I put it on eBay."

2008-09-03T23:11:00.005-05:00

She rocks!

Minneapolis-St. Paul...She put the competition in their place and took the house at the RNC.

Grey's Anatomy...Here I come!

2008-08-30T05:48:00.006-05:00

After much paperwork, begging, and grovelling...I have been accepted! I didn't share with very many people that I had applied because they only take 8 students per year for the program, but I got in!

So...I doubt I'll see any Dr. McDreamys

(I have one of my own at home)

but I plan to see plenty of this...and I am so pumped!!!

It was SO COOL!

2008-08-26T08:38:00.001-05:00

So...I can't elaborate and no, I didn't take the pictures. It is just an example of what I saw. I have put in this link so those of you that are a little on the "queasy" side don't have to look, but for those that are Discovery Health junkies like me...I watched the coolest thing yesterday. Up close and personal!

"Quotes from Little Bit"

2008-08-20T08:29:00.006-05:00

The day can be a disaster...everything going wrong. No matter how hard I try, I can't get everyone where they are suppose to go on time with all the supplies they need. My phone can be ringing nonstop. The car can be out of gas...for the hundredth time this week. Then she speaks...from the backseat...whatever words of wisdom cross her mind.

Life observations according to Little Bit...

"When I get to be a Power Ranger, I'm going to fly into the moon."

"I was playing with my Little People, but they didn't want to play with me."

"Mom, after you get your Frappuccino, can I fly my kite? It's wind-ing outside." (Obviously, being a Rhodes scholar, she knows that winding is a verb showing the action of the wind, not to be mistaken for winding like winding a thread.)
Why kite flying you may ask?...She has only been kite flying twice in her life, so it's the obvious choice.)

"I'm afraid of the hair." (I had sent her to sit on her bed after she collapsed in tears from something not going her way. While there, she discovered a hair on her bed. She sat, clutching Eeyore, sobbing until I came to remove the obviously very dangerous strand of hair that was threatening to attack her.)

"Mom, am I thirty yet?" (This was after seeing her 3 year old boyfriend at preschool. At our house, thirty is the legal and appropriate age to engage in any and all spit swapping and tonsil swabbing with whatever creep, I mean sweet person, they bring home.)

When asked about what her partner in crime, Eeyore, does for a living...she answers..."He's a pizza guy."

"Listen, the choo-choo rain rain's coming!"

Oh...what would we do without our "Little Bit" of comedy relief?

"Amazing Grace"

2008-08-17T15:07:00.005-05:00

If you haven't seen it, rent it!

The film follows the life of William Wilberforce, who was an abolitionist in England in the late 1700's. He took on strong opposition to end the British slave trade. His dear friend and mentor, John Newton, had been the captain of a slave ship for many years. The captain eventually repented of his horrible treatment of slaves and penned the song "Amazing Grace". He served as a witness to the crimes against slaves and urged William to continue his fight. William finally succeeds in 1833.

This is his epitaph at his grave in Westminster Abbey...

TO THE MEMORY OF WILLIAM WILBERFORCE (BORN IN HULL AUGUST 24th 1759, DIED IN LONDON JULY 29th 1833;) FOR NEARLY HALF A CENTURY A MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS, AND, FOR SIX PARLIAMENTS DURING THAT PERIOD, ONE OF THE TWO REPRESENTATIVES FOR YORKSHIRE. IN AN AGE AND COUNTRY FERTILE IN GREAT AND GOOD MEN, HE WAS AMONG THE FOREMOST OF THOSE WHO FIXED THE CHARACTER OF THEIR TIMES; BECAUSE TO HIGH AND VARIOUS TALENTS, TO WARM BENEVOLENCE, AND TO UNIVERSAL CANDOUR, HE ADDED THE ABIDING ELOQUENCE OF A CHRISTIAN LIFE. EMINENT AS HE WAS IN EVERY DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC LABOUR, AND A LEADER IN EVERY WORK OF CHARITY, WHETHER TO RELIEVE THE TEMPORAL OR THE SPIRITUAL WANTS OF HIS FELLOW-MEN, HIS NAME WILL EVER BE SPECIALLY IDENTIFIED WITH THOSE EXERTIONS WHICH, BY THE BLESSING OF GOD, REMOVED FROM ENGLAND THE GUILT OF THE AFRICAN SLAVE TRADE, AND PREPARED THE WAY FOR THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY IN EVERY COLONY OF THE EMPIRE: IN THE PROSECUTION OF THESE OBJECTS HE RELIED, NOT IN VAIN, ON GOD; BUT IN THE PROGRESS HE WAS CALLED TO ENDURE GREAT OBLOQUY AND GREAT OPPOSITION: HE OUTLIVED, HOWEVER, ALL ENMITY; AND IN THE EVENING OF HIS DAYS, WITHDREW FROM PUBLIC LIFE AND PUBLIC OBSERVATION TO THE BOSOM OF HIS FAMILY. YET HE DIED NOT UNNOTICED OR FORGOTTEN BY HIS COUNTRY: THE PEERS AND COMMONS OF ENGLAND, WITH THE LORD CHANCELLOR AND THE SPEAKER AT THEIR HEAD, IN SOLEMN PROCESSION FROM THEIR RESPECTIVE HOUSES, CARRIED HIM TO HIS FITTING PLACE AMONG THE MIGHTY DEAD AROUND, HERE TO REPOSE: TILL, THROUGH THE MERITS OF JESUS CHRIST, HIS ONLY REDEEMER AND SAVIOUR, (WHOM, IN HIS LIFE AND IN HIS WRITINGS HE HAD DESIRED TO GLORIFY,) HE SHALL RISE IN THE RESURRECTION OF THE JUST.
http://www.westminster-abbey.org/history-research/monuments-gravestones/people/12209

Am I old or what???

2008-08-15T08:47:00.012-05:00

November 1988 - My dad and I stood at the glass, watching the nurse lay the little baby in one of those plastic bassinets. She had not been cleaned up yet. She was naked as a jaybird and looking like she had been pulled down the street on her face...but to us, she was the sweetest and cutest little thing we had ever seen. My dad, who was a retired Marine and had seen two wars up close and very personal, stood at the window, crying. Yes, I cried too, okay...sobbed.

Over the years, we've watched her grow. She walked down the aisle at my wedding...big blue eyes, blond hair and a halo of baby's breath in her hair. She stole the show! (Almost literally...she shared the same song with me and by the time she pranced slowly down the aisle making eye contact with everyone she passed and dropping the petals one at a time, I almost didn't have enough song left to walk down the aisle!)

Anyway, over the years, she has grown to be a beautiful girl. She is responsible, smart, and strong willed. She doesn't let anyone run over her and will tell you quickly what she thinks. Being a little on the strong willed side myself...I am completely proud. She has loved my four kidlets and helped me with them since the time they appeared. She has set her mind to getting a college degree and has not taken her eyes off that goal. I have high hopes for her...that she will be self-sufficient, independent, and strong as she goes out into the world.

I have cried buckets again...this time watching her daddy and Trek load her belongings into a trailer to carry her to college....wow, where does the time go? I thought it was just yesterday that I walked her around and around the living room, holding the pacifier in her mouth, begging God to make her quit crying and fall asleep...wondering what her mama was thinking, leaving her baby with her crazy 14 year old aunt.

(I must pause to get a Kleenex...I'm crying again)

Whose big idea was it to have kids??? At this rate, by the time I get my own four raised and gone, I will have depleted the Kleenex supply in the United States.

(The picture is of her this summer after the dentist ripped her wisdom teeth out of her mouth. I just wished I looked that good after surgery!)

We love you Dan-elle!
Have fun, do good!
Trek, Fred-o, George, Twirl, Monkey, and Little Bit

Michael Phelps just wishes I was his Mama...

2008-08-12T23:09:00.003-05:00

I make a complete and shameless fool of myself over my kids. I don't care. I admit it and will seek counseling...after they graduate from college and get married...but then I'll have grandkids, so...I'll get back to you on the counseling thing.

Anyway, every time my kids perform in a sport or a play or a dance recital or well...you get the point, I cheer or cry, whatever applies at the time. People think I am insane, but MY kids know they have a fan in the audience that will support them whether they come in first or ninety-ninth. Case in point below...you would have thought my kid was breaking the world record for the zillionth time like Michael Phelps. You'll hear me screaming when she does...

For those interested, my kidlet is the anchor of Lane 4 from far end of pool at the state championship meet. I think you'll figure out which team won the heat...

Another Pet Peeve

2008-08-09T00:40:00.008-05:00

What does it mean to make "Good Money"? I use this phrase all the time.
"Bob is a windshield wiper blade maker and he makes really good money."
What does that mean?? Why is Bob's money good and Tom's money that he makes as a fake Christmas tree maker bad? Is it a backwoods phrase that I picked up on the side of the road somewhere or is there really an argument to be made for using "good" to describe "well paid"?

Please...put me out of my grammar inflicted misery...

Purging

2008-08-08T23:54:00.002-05:00

In our quest to prepare four little ones for a new school year, we spent last weekend purchasing glue sticks, pencils, and the other 1,321 items on the supply lists provided by our friendly local education establishments. I walked into Wal-Mart, stopped and picked up my jaw and tried to move like a normal person after ignorantly mistaking it for Christmas Eve. There were so many people with exactly the same idea...trying to save $2.11 in sales tax during our "Tax Free that covers all school supplies except Kleenex, plastic bags, baby wipes and the 101 other household items that you are expected to buy for a classroom that makes you think you are sending your child to a third world country for the next 8 years Weekend." Anyway, I digress...sorry.

For the past 4 or 5 years, we have had a sock basket. It was a complete accident caused by my laziness in folding clothes and blatant refusal to match socks. Instead I chose to dig frantically at 7:30 each morning desperately trying to find decent socks for my kids to wear to school...much smarter choice. (Do you see a trend here?) Anyway, during our savings fest last weekend, we bought the kids new socks. Trek said "Dump the basket and throw them all away...we are starting over."

In my "I am cheap, I can't possibly..." world, this is so foreign an idea that I thought I felt the beginnings of a hives breakout at the mere suggestion. Stubbornly, I spent a movie and one half, sitting on the sofa next to Trek, sorting 5 years worth of stained, torn, worn, and just plain disgusting socks. Trek would occasionally whisper, like the devil on my shoulder, "Just throw them...pitch 'em...you can do it..." When all was said and done, I had about one half of a Wal-mart sack of usable socks. What a waste of time.

Thus the picture of the mountain of socks from my recent sock purge. I took the pic for my bff C because I knew she would be proud of my accomplishment. It felt so good to get rid of the basket. This exercise has provoked me to think, "What else needs purging?" It's a little crazy to compare my life to a pile of socks, but it struck me that I do the same thing with a lot of areas of my life...hoard a bunch of old, ugly socks...take each one out...examine carefully...instead of just throwing the whole lot out and moving on...hmmm.

I looked up the definition of 'purging' to make sure I used the right word.
"Purging" come from the Latin "to purify" I think I need to do more purifying...the sock basket was liberating!

Pet Peeve...is it justified or not?

2008-07-10T22:37:00.005-05:00

Someone please tell me! Maybe all these years I have been wrong. Maybe the grammar police just haven't taken the time to stop and say "Fred-o, you are wrong...you are way off base." So, bloggers out there in the virtual blogging world...tell me so I can leave my pet peeve at the door and never pick it up again.

Here it is...

When someone says to you "Peter Pumpkin Eater and I have been dating 2 years and I thought he loved me but he took Mary Poppins to a movie last night and I could care less." WHAT DOES THAT MEAN????

Could care less? Does that not imply that you do care but could care less? Shouldn't it be COULDN'T care less? Are you trying to say there is no room in your life for more caring and that all the care is gone?

"...he took Mary Poppins to a movie last night and I could not care less."

Please someone out there in the blogging abyss stop my madness!! Tell me what is correct before I haul off and smack the next person that is attempting to brag about her lack of care for what some poor smuck has or has not done! Can she care less or not??

The Little Things

2008-07-07T13:22:00.002-05:00

How many times do we remember the little things? I often wonder how many times people that are contemplating divorce stop and remember the little things their spouse does for them before they think "Oh, my life is so boring!" or "They just aren't the same person I married!".

If you intend to read my insignificant blog, occasionally you will find "Little Things". The "Little Things" are things Trek does for me or that I love about him. Trek is not perfect, but he is perfect for me. Our life is not perfect, but whose is?? We have been married 15 years in September and I would not change that for all the money, fame or friends in the world.

So, here is my first installment...

Over the weekend, Trek and I, along with our kidlets, went to Chattanooga for a mini-vacation. The first morning, I came out of our hotel and got in our SUV where Trek and kidlets were loaded, ready for the day's outings. On the dash, already programmed into the "crazy woman in a box" (Garmin Nuvi navigator thingy that screams instructions over and over and makes us want to kill ourselves and everyone around us...another day, another story...sorry I digress) was the nearest Starbucks. Trek pulled out of the hotel parking lot and went directly to the homeland before we began our day of kidlet entertaining. He knows I like...okay love...okay am completely addicted to their caffeine injected desserts in a plastic cup disguised as drinks for which I willingly fork over an insane amount of money to digest. I didn't ask, he just knew life would be happier with me in a caffeine induced coma!

Ten Years

2008-07-02T13:38:00.002-05:00

Ten years ago today, my father died. He had been sick for quite a while so it wasn't completely unexpected, but it hurt just the same. Sickness, death, and the carnage we all leave behind when we go can be overwhelming.

I came to my parents late in life for my dad. He was in his early 50's when I was born. I think he was a more patient, caring father because of the place he was in his life. I thought he hung the moon and from my prospective, I think the feeling was mutual.

Life tends to take turns you could never predict. Sometimes real life seems more bizarre than any soap opera you could imagine. Over the last ten years, I have tried to put my dad in a little box in the back of my heart. He's there. I just don't know how to open the box and recall memories from what seems like a lifetime ago. Afraid that if I do, I won't be fit to live with in the present.

But today, just for a moment, here's a tribute to Dad. For the years of love, sorrow, happiness and pain you brought into my life. Thanks...I love you.

Sex...and the City

2008-06-28T21:49:00.005-05:00

So, I went to see it. I never watched the show when it came on tv. When I got to the theater, there wasn't much to choose from that wasn't either depressing or scary. I have to admit I was sceptical. First, I must say...they really meant it when they said "Sex...and the City". I didn't read reviews before I went and found myself turning my head during half a dozen scenes because they left NOTHING to the imagination. I would not recommend it to anyone because there was way too many graphic scenes.

Aside from that, I was touched by the friendship the girls shared. I loved their shallowness, their honesty, and their hideous fashion that most of us wouldn't be caught dead wearing. They were blunt and at times brutal, but always supportive and protective of each other.

Usually when I watch a movie, if it has even the slightest bit of talent, I can typically find one thing to take away with me. One quote, one scene that will stick out as memorable or...on a good day, it may even be encouraging or helpful. In this movie, there was one scene that hit me in the chest and brought tears to my eyes.

Carrie is in the middle of the street in NYC, just having survived the worst moment she could ever imagine. She is heartbroken. She is in unbearable pain. She confronts Big and takes out every ounce of her anger on him. She turns around to run and Charlotte is there. Carrie runs into Charlotte's arms where Charlotte holds her with all the strength she has inside. The hug reflects all the years of friendship they shared and the anger and pain Charlotte felt on Carrie's behalf and the love she had for her friend.

Most women thrive on having other women in their lives that they can depend on, relate to, talk to...I have no doubt that the groups of women that sat around me in the theater were much like the group on the screen. Women that had been through thick and thin together.

Who is the Charlotte in your life?