Jingle Bell Blessings (19 page)
Read Jingle Bell Blessings Online
Authors: Bonnie K. Winn
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Dear Reader,
Like many of you, I've been caught in the excruciating position of being in one place, while needing to be in another. To be entangled in family and work in one state, while aging parents reside in another. They call us the Oreo generation for a reason, I suppose. More and more of us are dealing with our children growing into adults while our parents are reaching their twilight years, putting us in the middle. For me, it's not duty, it's love.
But love, as we also know, is tricky enough on its own. And, when it's new love, how do we make these crucial decisions?
I feel a special kinship with Chloe Reed as she must choose between love and family on opposite sides of the country. And, I hope you'll enjoy this venture to Rosewood as we're all reminded of how very special our families are. And, how much they love, give, inspire and challenge.
Blessings,
- How did you feel about Chloe leaving her mother in Milwaukee?
- Taking a child across the country to a new home is fairly daunting. Would you ever consider doing anything similar?
- Did you agree with Chloe's decision to accept her boss's offer?
- Do you think Chloe should have placed Barbara in a lower-quality facility so that she didn't have so much financial pressure?
- Should Chloe's younger brother have been urged to do more for their mother? Or, did you feel his primary obligation was to his wife and children?
- Evan considered the stone company's employees to be family. Do you feel he was overly concerned about their welfare? Or did you admire his principles?
- Evan's father, Gordon, opened their home to Chloe. Do you think he was right? Or should he have respected Evan's wishes?
- Chloe's mother agreed to move to Rosewood. Do you think Barbara will be happy close to her daughter? Or will she feel she's left everything familiar behind?
- In Barbara's position, what would you have done?
- Can you understand Chloe's belief that she couldn't give Jimmy a good home on her own?
- Do you think Evan should have given more consideration to Jimmy's grandparents' offer to put him in boarding school?
- Grace, the heroine of
Promise of Grace
, overcame incredible difficulties. Do you think she has come full circle? Now giving back to the community that embraced her? - Is belief and love enough to bind a family? Are finances merely secondary considerations?
- Can you imagine yourself living in a place completely different, perhaps even opposite, of your home? From big city to small town? Or vice versa?
- How much would you be willing to sacrifice for your family? All the generations of your family?
ISBN: 978-1-4268-7655-4
JINGLE BELL BLESSINGS
Copyright © 2010 by Bonnie K. Winn
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the editorial office, Steeple Hill Books, 233 Broadway, New York, NY 10279 U.S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
This edition published by arrangement with Steeple Hill Books.
® and TM are trademarks of Steeple Hill Books, used under license. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.
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Rosewood, Texas