Hello, My Dears!

I’m writing this email on Tuesday, because on Wednesday Mr. Dowell and I are off to the beach! We’re going back to a favorite old spot, Sunset Beach, NC, where we took our family vacations when the boys were little. It’s very much a family beach – no fraternity gatherings, no bikers – with a laid-back, friendly vibe. Once the boys were older, we traded Sunset Beach for Ocracoke Island, so it’s been over a decade since we visited our old hunting grounds (seashell hunting, that is).

I had travel on my mind when I wrote this week’s chapter. How long, I wondered, would it take Bess to get from Milton Falls to Columbus, and how would she get there? I decided to put her on the bus for two hours, which gives her plenty of time to ponder life and eat chocolate (the two so often go hand in hand, don’t they?). 

I sent Bess to Columbus to spend time with her daughter Annie and grandson Will. Recently, it occurred to me that while Annie's name gets dropped a lot in the Friendship Album stories, we’ve only met her once in real life (so to speak), as a teenage girl in Bess’s Christmas story. It’s high time we meet the grown-up Annie, don’t you think? 

Who else is left to meet? Eula’s sons Doug and Johnny finally showed up last week; I think that leaves Buddy and Henry Johnson. Maybe it’s time for them to come visit Dorothy; what do you think?

I hope you enjoy this week’s episode. Thanks as always for subscribing to the Story Guild. I couldn’t do it without your support! 

xoFrances