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    Change of Life
    Change of Life
    Change of Life
    Ebook98 pages1 hour

    Change of Life

    By Lillian Wade

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    About this ebook

    Melanie comes face to face with her past when her 40-year-old biological daughter, whom she gave up at birth, shows up at her door. Her daughter's 15 year-old child suffers from leukemia and needs a bone marrow transplant. She can only be saved if she can find a donor who is a close relative. After Melanie's initial shock, she embarks on a journey to find relatives of her daughter's father, whom she believes was killed in Vietnam. Her search for his relatives brings her joy and pain, and changes her life in ways she never imagined.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherLillian Wade
    Release dateJul 20, 2012
    ISBN9781476435145
    Change of Life
    Author

    Lillian Wade

    I am a retired teacher who enjoys outings with girlfriends and writing fiction about female baby boomers. Other passions include scrabble, chess and gardening. In addition, my husband and I love to cruise with friends.

    Read more from Lillian Wade

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      Book preview

      Change of Life - Lillian Wade

      Change of Life

      Second novella in the Girlfriends trilogy

      Copyright 2012 Lillian Wade

      Smashwords Edition

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without the prior written consent of the author, except brief quotes used in reviews.

      This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

      This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. It may not be re-sold or given away to others. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to http://www.Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Table of Contents

      Beginning

      Note to Readers

      Connect with me online

      Excerpt Boomerang, first novella in trilogy

      Change of Life

      by Lillian Wade

      For the first time in years, Melanie looked at herself in the full length mirror and was shocked! Where the hell did you come from? She thought. 30 extra pounds had sneaked in and made themselves at home. She had been so busy lately that she ate on the run and hadn’t had time to go to the gym. Not only was she overweight, but Melanie was feeling more melancholy than happy these days. But why? She had a successful business. She lived in a beautiful apartment. She was healthy, for the most part. Hmmmm, she sighed, as she was dishing up a bowl of vanilla ice cream with hot fudge and turning on the television at the same time. Half way through the concoction, while glancing at reports from her office, a talk-show conversation caught her attention. The discussion centered around single women over 50 who suffer from depression and obesity.

      The guest was saying you’re considered obese if you weigh 20% more than your normal weight and morbidly obese if you weigh over 50% more than your normal weight. Melanie’s normal weight was 130 on a 5’4 frame, and she weighed 169 pounds! That can’t be. I’m not obese, and I’m certainly not depressed," she said aloud. With the spoon half way to her mouth, Melanie paused and put it down. She decided right then and there that she was going to do something about her weight and her state of mind. She didn’t consider herself depressed, but some of the classic symptoms the guest mentioned gave her pause, like a lack of interest in pleasurable activities, change in temperament and sadness.

      Melanie devoted the rest of the evening to planning some radical changes in her life. She didn’t stop at weight loss; she wanted a complete make-over, including clothes, hair, makeup, living environment, car, social activities, vacations -- the whole kit and caboodle. The thought of the new Melanie exacted the kind of excitement she experienced when first launching A Better Way. Melanie used to thrive on change, but somewhere along the way, she became stuck in a rut and stopped factoring herself into the equation.

      When Mary Jo, her best friend, became her partner at The Better Way, the business took off like a rocket, and she seldom took time for herself. Their specialty in reverse destination weddings filled a fantasy niche. Brides came from all over the world to have their dreams fulfilled. They usually worked around the clock starting a couple days before each wedding. Everything had to be perfect. Their flawless reputation demanded it, and the exorbitant sums brides paid guaranteed it.

      As she was putting her plan together, she became painfully aware that she had let herself go. Mary Jo mentioned it tactfully, but she didn’t take the hint. Okay, she thought. "First things, first." She went through her pantry and refrigerator and threw out all snacks, including the treasured Blue Bell ice cream which she bought a couple times a year directly from the creamery in Brenham, Texas. She wasn’t going on any strict regimen; instead, she would eat sensibly and finally pull down the 3-mile, fast- walk video that had been on her shelf for a year.

      Another radical change Melanie planned was to step down as CEO of A Better Way. Of course she would consult with Mary Jo first, but she was sure Lela, her assistant, was capable of filling her shoes. Lela had been with her since the beginning and knew as much as Melanie about the business. She was also a master at planning and budgeting. Too much was going on in her mind. Melanie tried to sleep, but her eagerness to get started kept her awake.

      The next morning Melanie ate oatmeal, toast and a boiled egg for breakfast, along with the two cups of coffee she needed to start the day. Afterwards, she dusted off the 3-mile walk-in-place tape and began in earnest to start her weight-loss plan. She was able to do one mile before she collapsed from exhaustion. That’s okay, she thought. I’ll get there. Her mother used to say, "There’s nothing like a made-up mind, and she had made up her mind that she was going to improve her weight and appearance. Next, she made an appointment at The Salon" for the works - a haircut, color, facial, massage, manicure and pedicure. She called Mary Jo and arranged to meet her for lunch, then called Lela and told her she wouldn’t be coming into the office.

      *****

      Mary Jo had cut back her hours at A Better Way. She was enjoying her new relationship with Adam and spending time at her foundation for homeless families. She and Adam had become inseparable during the last couple months. She discovered more and more about him, and liked everything she learned, including his complete devotion to his late wife who had died five years earlier from breast cancer. Adam had apparently been devastated. Mary Jo was the first woman who had captured his interest since then - not that others hadn’t tried. As a matter of fact, he had had more women interested in him after his wife died than he ever had before his marriage. It was all so overwhelming – women feigning sorrow at his loss, bringing meals to his home that they wanted to share with him, inviting him to various events, and on and on. He politely declined all the offers and wisely took time to grieve the loss of his wife.

      When he first saw Mary Jo at the gym battering a punching bag, he could feel her anger and frustration. He, of course, didn’t intrude on her emotional outbreak, but he sensed she was trying to rid herself of something or someone. He had

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