A Fractured Mind

We were expected to go through the food line first before there was a mad rush. I had Sharron go first. Marge came over and took little Johnnie, taking him directly to Sharron's mother. I didn't know it would be the first time she held him. It was a two-hundred mile trip for them, and they would be staying with Marge while they visited. We were sitting down with our plates when Sharron looked for him. It took her a few tries, but she found him.

"Mom, Dad. What a wonderful surprise. What are you doing here?" she asked walking towards them.

The room suddenly went quiet. Everyone knew their history and were waiting for what was next.

Sharron's father spoke. "John called me because he said he had a problem. The problem was my daughter's future husband wanted to meet me. I asked John what he was like. John said he's the best. Knowing John like we all do, I had to find out for myself. For once John wasn't exaggerating the truth. From what I've been hearing, he's been understating it. David I will be proud if you allow me to call you a son."

Sharron ran into his arms just like she did when she was young. Somebody yelled, 'crack open the bottles the party is on.' Throughout the afternoon my sons heard often how respectable they looked. Adam was blown away by the attention he was getting from all the girls his age. Once the music started, Sharron's father asked her to dance.

"Give Johnnie to me, Mom, I'll watch him while you're on the floor," Adam said.

Whether it was what Adam had said or dancing with her father, Sharron was being twirled around the floor with tears of joy in her eyes. John pulled me aside, pouring us a cold draft.

"We did it right, David. At church this morning, Sharron's father, a diehard, old fashioned Christian, eyes watched your every move. He said he was very impressed with your sermon. He still had no clue who you were. It was seeing the three of you at the end of the service that broke him. He never expected that. He still can't believe that Sharron is going to be a pastor's wife." John said. 'Sharron's problem with her family is now history."

I finally got the chance to meet her parents. Sharon and I took them out for Sunday dinner. We took them to Clarks, a family restaurant that served good basic food. When her mother learned how bad it had gotten, she almost lost it. Sharron and I held nothing back. My sons put their two cents in. Both of us learned a few things that we did not know. By the end of the meal it was all out. I got told quite plainly there would be no more Mr. and Mrs. Johnston, it was just mom and dad.

The psychologists and psychiatrists all agreed that Maria was medically incapable of standing trial. She was now suicidal and ended up being committed. Her fall, I had to admit, was the worse I'd ever seen. Tony Landers didn't get a dime he got fifteen. I bought the apartment buildings back when her lawyer put them up for sale with no money down. With the interest so low I got an open mortgage for thirty years knowing I would pay it off in ten. I hired the old property management group with the same terms as before.

It's been six months since our wedding. Paul and Cora sold us a two acre piece of land off the back corner of their hundred and fifty acre farm. We are busy building ourselves a new six bedroom home. Everybody is excited about the new granddaughter coming into this world.

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Thanks to those who helped editing this. I am a work in progress. I just hope that your insight's and tips makes further stories flow more easy.