Out of the Darkness

After a visit to the Rehab Center in Connecticut to see her belovedMother, Willa decided it was time to take a bigger look at her life.Since last May and the shocks of the death of her younger sister, Addie,and the serious stroke her mother had suffered, Willa had been able totake only one day at a time.On the plus side, Willa had seen how hard her Mother was working toget better. The staff at the Rehab Center said they were very pleasedwith her progress. It had been so disheartening to see that after fivemonths she still needed a walker. At least her speech was almost backto normal. But when, if ever, would she be back to her previous level oftennis, for instance?It was still hard to take the fact that her Dad was still spending so muchtime in China. How long he’d be there depended on how soon thebranch company he had set up would be operating on its’ own. Itseemed to take so long. Was Willa just being unrealistic?She didn’t see much of her older brother, Danny, because he was atWest Point, and he made huge efforts to get down to see their mother asoften as he could. She smiled to herself, thinking how she had buggedhim when she was younger. It all paid off, though. He expectednothing but the best, and consequently she was very competitive insoftball, tennis, and skiing. That certainly gave her an advantage at TheDay School in Milwaukee.Reflecting on her present home life at her Grandmother Nordbergs’house, really an estate, brought another small smile. Danny had givenher the name ‘The Ice Lady’ because he said she had no warm feelingsat all.Willa had been in full agreement when she first arrived in Milwaukee.But slowly things seemed to be changing for the better. Read to findout how Willa and her Grandmother manage to work out a truce!Upon arrival last year, an immediate comfort to Willa was the presenceof the housekeeper, Mrs. Werner, and her granddaughter, Polly, age ten.Mrs. Werner, a Nordberg relative, had been brought over from Germanyby her Grandfather, after her husband, her only son, and his wife, hadbeen killed in a horrible crash on the Autobahn. Polly came severalyears later. Her maternal grandparents were not able to care for her.Mrs. Werner was a wonderful cook! Willa hadn’t asked if herGrandmother cooked, but she had never seen her in the kitchen with anapron on. Her Grandmother was paying the tuition for both Willa andPolly at The Day School. Willa felt pleased when she looked back tothe ‘old’ Polly. After Willa came she just seemed to open up. Mostlikely because someone younger was around.Finally, she had to do an assessment of school. After all, it did consumethe majority of her time. Academically, she knew it was tops. Hermind went back to being ‘The New Girl’. It had been tough at first.Amy Wu, still her best friend, was a friend right away.As for the majority of her female classmates, she had seemed to be theenemy. Now, Willa was not unaware that she was an attractive person.She had thick blond hair, like her mother’s. And she had big iceblueeyes, just like her grandmother’s.Her slim build spoke to herparticipation in sports. So the girls might have been worried about theirboyfriends?Willa didn’t know the answer to that. But she smiled thinking howWoody Reston came into her life at that bad time. And was still there!There are many adventures and experiences still ahead. You won’twant to miss these adventures, scary times, and the good times.