Leaving The Willows

By Mason Lakey

I thought my struggles were over but soon found out my struggles were just beginning. I married John Tuckering and found out how wonderful it was to be married and have a daughter who is now going off to college. There have been many life lessons for me to learn, I know there will be many more to come. I'm glad I answered the willows call. In this book you will find my daughter growing up and so many things have changed for all of us.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hawes & Jenkins Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jun 22, 2023
• ISBN: 9781637841426

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Leaving The Willows

Mason Lakey

ISBN 978-1-63784-141-9 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-63784-142-6 (digital)

Copyright © 2023 by Mason Lakey

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Hawes & Jenkins Publishing

16427 N Scottsdale Road Suite 410

Scottsdale, AZ 85254

www.hawesjenkins.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Leaving The Willows

Going To College

Christmas Is Coming

Returning To School

Our Vacation

Summer Fun

The Coming Of Fall

The Cold Frightening Winter

Nilli's Life Begins

Danese and My Connection

Nilli's First Endeavor

Bobby and Susie

The Grand Opening

Janese My Special Sister In-Law

Angie

Christmas is Coming

The Winter Begins

A Major Snowstorm

My Birthday

Buying the Mall

Page Our Gift

John My Amazing Man

Spring Is Finally Here

Summer Is Here

Our Babies Arrive

Danese's Problem

Christmas around the Corner

A Questionable New Year

Danese's Hospital Stay

Helping Bryan Through

Winter Fun

Page's News

Planning for Page

Relaxing at Home

Janese's Big Break Through

Going To The Movie's

Summer Once Again

Autumn Once More

Reminiscing

About the Author

First, I thank God for giving me the talent to write. A special thanks to my husband and my sisters-in-law, Elaine and Louetta and my daughter-in-law Rebecca for their support.

To West End Country Store, Paula Bishop and Libby Wiggins, Charleston Station, Diana Clampitt, and Art Explorations of WNC, Melissa Queen for allowing me to have book signings.

Chapter 1

Leaving The Willows

The willows called and I answered, I have been so glad that I did. It was the happiest time and the sadist time in my life all wrapped up into one, it seems as though just yesterday I met and married this wonderful, marvelous man named John Tuckering. However, when I look in the mirror I know differently. When I look at our precious daughter the Lord blessed us with one year after we were married. She would be going off to college in the fall I know by that it has been a while it has been 20 years this coming December.

I think of the things we went through all those years ago. It was not possible for John and I to be together at first, my mom was sick and dying. If mom had not been sick we might have had a bigger wedding in a different place. Looking back I would not have changed a thing, I now think back on that time and I am glad we got married in that little church in my hometown.

I think these things made us stronger. My writing career had been a success all these years. I was so glad I had a job where I could be at home with Cornelia. She had gotten so good at helping with my book signings; it amazed me how much she helped even as a child. I don't know what she will decide to do. She does have my talent for writing; she also has her Dad's head for business whatever she decides it will be fine with me. She is a beautiful talented girl who has her whole life ahead of her, she loves her half-sister Johnese. She might choose to be a designer, who knows.

John and I have had a wonderful marriage. Money has never been a problem since I married him. He has always given me and our child anything we could want, I often think how different my daughter's life had been from mine growing up. My Dad died when I was a teenager and my mom did the best she could, she had to work all the time.

Cornelia or Nilli, as we call her, has been spoiled but is a very caring, loving individual. She has her dad's patience and my mom's moral compass, so she has a lot going for her. I will be lost without her we do everything together. This must have been the way my mom felt when I came to Virginia all those years ago. I decided not to start a new book unless I just had to until Nilli went to school. She and I were planning a road trip to check out some colleges. We would go to the beach house with dad for a week. Johnese was taking Nilli to Europe for a month and we were going to be very busy for the next few months. I found myself at times wishing Nilli was just starting kindergarten. Nilli had gone to visit her best friend this evening and was going to spend the night, which meant John and I would be alone this evening. I decided to make a special dinner for him. We had a wonderful evening; somehow I knew there would be a lot of evenings such as this in our future which made me a little sad. Not that I didn't enjoy Johns company but I sure would miss my little girl.

Danese moved out of the house after Nilli was born. I worried about her in the beginning; she had really flourished when she moved. She met and married a delightful man and was very happy. Johnese had also married; she married a very successful corporate lawyer who had gone to work for John last year. She has a perfectly adorable little boy who was now eight years old. She is very happy, so is John knowing he had someone to carry on the Tuckering name. Janese and I still have our weekly visits, and Johnese takes her to the store to see her things at least once a month, at night. Nilli loves Janese as much as I do.

Tonight, I went on to the balcony for a while and listened to the willows. Nilli was as bad as I was about the willows. She and I used to sit all morning at times just listening to the willows. In the summer when it was warm, I would open her balcony window so she could hear the willows. It always calmed her and helped her to sleep

This is my special place life here was just meant to be, the Lord placed me here, the Lord will also direct Nilli and she will find her place one day down the road, when she least expects it. It seems to me that is when we all find our place, when we least expect it. If we allow him, God will direct our paths. John was thinking about retiring, Johnese had been doing a lot more running the business in the past five years. She of course over saw all the design aspects. She had hired some very good designers and was helping her dad more and more, so he could think about retiring. Nilli and I were going to see Janese today, she looked so forward to our visits that we tried not to miss our days with her. I noticed today that Janese looked a little tired. I talked to her doctor after our visit. He said she had been more tired lately, he thought she was not sleeping well at night. He promised to keep a particular watch to see if they could figure out why. I thought maybe she was drawing at night or maybe the bad dreams were coming back. John had said she used to have bad dreams about the accident. She had not had them in years she had become very sociable in the past 10 years. We still could not bring her home or take her out in the daytime. Johnese still took her to her store at night. I hated that so many times I wanted just to take her to lunch. She was just used to her routine that is all she was comfortable with, she still did not like loud noises. All in all, she was happy.

Nilli and I went to lunch before we went to see Janese. Nilli wanted to go by and see her dad; we did go by to see him and took him a sandwich. Nilli was not really interested in the business but occasionally she wanted to go by to see her dad. She always went to see the new designs with Johnese.

We were all a little tired when we got home, so we dined in and just had a quiet night at home. The next evening was what we called theater night. We always caught a play at the theater, if we had not seen it. If we had seen it, we took in a movie. We also, once a month, went to the outdoor theater to take in a movie. It was our favorite thing to do. Traditions die hard. Johnese, John and I always loved the outdoor theater, so did Nilli that is why we did it once a month. The children and grandchildren now loved it as much as we had.

Nilli and I slept in on Friday morning. We knew we would be meeting John at dinner and going to the theater. We always liked to take just a few minutes in the morning just to be lazy, then around lunch time we would take a walk not eat until dinner. We had a nice walk this afternoon. We walked the circle at the end of our street 5 times and walked back to the house. We went up to get ready to go out. We met John at the restaurant, as always John complimented us on how we looked. We then had a wonderful dinner, went to the theater and saw a great play.

Nilli and I were going on our trip in two weeks. I know two weeks ahead is a little much but just in case we forgot anything, we always began by making a list of things we would need to take for this trip. We would make our individual list, then combine them, then go over and over them for two days. On the third day we would start to pack everything we would take. That always took one day, then the sixth day we would start to pack. We would be all packed so that the next week. The week we left we could just relax, go shopping for last minute things, books, and magazines. I always took a notebook full of paper and a pack of new pens. We were now through packing. The next week we would just rest and map out our route. We still did that even though our GPS could do that for us. Of course we would spend a lot of time listening to the willows. Nilli wanted to go to Kentucky first. She had 2 or 3 schools to check out there. That was good we could stay at mom's house. I could do some cleaning while Nilli checked out the schools. We would go into North Carolina then we would come back this way. She had 2 schools in Kentucky and 1 in North Carolina. Nilli could go to any school anywhere. She did not desire to go far away from home, which made me happy. I would miss her very much.

The week went by much too quickly. It was time for us to start our journey the next morning. My heart always sank when I had to leave John. I hated saying good-by to John. The morning was glorious, it was bright and clear and spring was here. The flowers and shrubs were blooming, the trees also were beginning to put out, the lilacs smelled heavenly outside the window. We put the last bag into the car said a little prayer and we were off. John was going to join us in Kentucky on the weekend. Nilli always loved horses, she was crazy about them. Nilli and I were going back and check out a few more cottages on the way. We would spend the weekend with John at Mom's house. It would take us a week to visit all the colleges. I was trying not to give too much of my opinion, after all it was her decision.

We were pretty worn out, the next Saturday morning when we returned home. John was golfing on Saturday, so Nilli and I slept a while and did absolutely nothing all day. I met John for dinner on Saturday evening, Nilli went for pizza with friends. At the end of the day we sat and shared the college information with John.

We slept late on Sunday morning, missing Sunday school. Which is not a common occurrence however, we all did make it to church. We all enjoyed church; we loved our preacher who had been with us for about 10 years now. Nilli had a strong faith, she reminded me of my mom morally. Nilli was a good girl, she realized early that being saved was what mattered. I worry about Nilli as every mother worries. I am glad she has that foundation, the foundation of faith. It will bring her through all the things that God intends for her. The next week would be a free week for us, nothing planned, just being at home all together and doing anything we decided to do. We spent a lot of time together.

The beginning of June, Nilli and Johnese were going to Europe for a month. I was glad Nilli had this opportunity that I did not have growing up. She and Johnese would have a wonderful time, she looked up to Johnese. I would keep Benji; he was now an 8-year-old, curious child that wanted to know about everything. Children always keep you young, they give you a lighthearted attitude and a love that no other can give, a trusting love.

Our summer would go by very fast. I wanted to savor each moment we had together. The rest of May, we decided to just stay at home and spend as much time together as possible. John, Nilli and I took every opportunity to be together these days. Going out to movies, theaters, museums and just hanging out at the house. The time was moving fast, too fast for me. It was only a couple of weeks now until Johnese and Nilli's trip to Europe. We would begin packing for the trip I sat down and made a list so did Nilli. The next couple of weeks we would be getting her ready and packed. Reality was beginning to take shape for me. It was already time for Johnese and Nilli to leave, they would be gone a month. I drove them to the airport. On my way back, I realized after this month, her Dad and I would go to the beach for our week. It would then be time for Nilli to decide where she was going. She had applied to 2 schools she had visited and had been accepted. She would decide which one when she came back. One was in Virginia the other in Kentucky, I of course was hoping for the one in Virginia so she would be at home.

I went to see Janese today we had a great time. She seemed to be feeling better, her energy seemed to be back. We spent some time together doing some of the things Janese liked. When I left I went by John's office, I spoke to John but I had come to see Danese. She and I usually made a lunch date once a week. That is really why I had stopped by, so we could make a lunch date for next week because I was going to need Danese' help. I had my fundraiser coming up in just a month and would need Danese to help me get ready for it. After all these years of doing the fundraiser, I still needed Danese to assist me. I think because this is what we had in common other than family.

Nilli called this evening, John and I both talked with her and Johnese. They were having a blast, I knew they would.

John and I had a wonderful month, it was different without Nilli being there. We knew she would be coming back at the end of the month. It would be different when Nilli went to college. She would still be coming home on holidays and summers but after college I knew she would find her life. Although I wanted that for her, it would be a little sad to me. I could only pray she would let the Lord direct her path. I did start another book, Andy would be glad to hear that. I really did not want to start the book at this time that is the thing about writing you have to write when it comes to you. I wrote all morning I decided I might need to eat something so I grabbed a yogurt and some more coffee. John called and asked me to meet him for dinner, he was entertaining clients. He often called me to meet him when he had to entertain clients. When dinner was over we stopped at a little framing shop I liked. I bought frames; I knew that when Nilli came home we would be framing pictures to hang on the walls. Nilli loved photography and was pretty good at it so I expected we would have some wonderful shots. Nilli and Johnese would be back in a week which meant it would be time for Nilli to get serious about making her decision about school.

I wanted to do something fun with Benji before Johnese returned. I took him out for the day, we went skating in the morning, then had way too much pizza and breadsticks for lunch. We then went to the fun factory, played games all afternoon, stopped and grabbed an ice cream on the way home. When we got home Ben was waiting for us. We had a great day together, way too much food but lots of fun. I asked Ben to join us for dinner on Saturday. He said we would love to. I would get a chance to cook for Ben and Benji and maybe we could talk Ben into staying for a movie Benji would like. It had truly been a wonderful day, Benji enjoyed himself so much. I also enjoyed being with Benji, all children need to feel that it is all about them sometimes. Times like these are rare, I try to make the most of them. It was Saturday, Ben and Benji would be here for dinner. I thought of all the things Benji liked and made most of them. I also made some things Ben liked. Dinner was great and both seemed to enjoy the meal. We had a great meal and a great evening. We watched a movie, one of Benji's favorites, while John and Ben played a game of chess. Johnese and Nilli would be back on Monday. Ben was glad he had really missed Johnese. Benji missed her too and I don't need to say how we had missed them both. We could not wait until Monday just knowing both our girls were home and safe. It finally came and I was on my way to the airport to pick up the girls. When I saw them, I thought to myself there are two weary travelers, they were both worn out. Of course, still laughing and giggling like schoolgirls. Johnese had always been such a fun-loving soul and Nilli had some of her same qualities. All the way home the girls chatted I dropped Johnese off at her house Nilli and I headed home. Nilli was full of stories about Europe. We pulled into the drive, and I stopped in front of the house so that we could get the bags out of the car and carried into the house. There were many more bags than she left with. At last, we got them carried in. We took the bags to her room. She would take the next week going through them putting things away. For now, Nilli was tired, she rested until dinner. We had a great meal at home John, Nilli and I slept late the next morning. Nilli came down just after I did. We had coffee together, she said she had decided on a college, she would be going to the University of Kentucky. I can't say I was shocked; I sort of thought she might. I congratulated her. Well, I thought Kentucky isn't so far away. She said she wished she could stay at mom's house but the first year she had to stay in the dorm. She could stay at moms when she could not get home on weekends. After her first year she could stay at mom's house. I told her to look for a roommate and make a little money. There were 3 bedrooms at mom's house, great idea mom, I will do just that.

This would be our last month together, we would have one week together, then a week with John at the beach. That only gave us one week before our beach trip, then 3 weeks before she was off to school. When her schedule arrived, we would go to her open house with her to see her room, meet her roommate and tour all of the campus.

Nilli insisted on our list this morning, the one for the week at the beach. I suppose I had taught her well what could I say. We got busy packing and soon we were all packed and ready for beach week with John. John would not have to do anything except drive us. We took our time. The last 2 days before beach week we lounged in the morning, took a walk every day and visited with Janese. She was feeling much better she showed us some new designs today. She was very proud of them, as usual we took her some new paper and colored pencils. She loved getting new things. She was like a child at Christmas.

John brought home Chinese tonight. He knew Nilli and I would be out and about today, so he volunteered to pick up dinner. Nilli and I commented its pizza night again, we were surprised pleasantly I might say, because we had not had Chinese in a while, it was wonderful. John always told Nilli and I to take something to do on our way. Then we said good-night, dad you have always said good-night, I do, yes since I was a little girl. I will miss that me too. That is one thing I can say you are not a little girl anymore. My baby is getting ready for college, oh dad. We went on to bed so we could get up early. We were in bad need of a beach trip.

We left early in the morning and got to the beach around dinner time. We stopped at our favorite little sandwich shop on our way to the beach house. We just had a half sandwich and a cup of soup, at least that what mom and I had. We knew lunch had to be light because dad would want to go to our favorite sit down restaurant, just down the way from our beach house for dinner.

We got to the beach house around 4:00. I got into my bathing suit and went straight to the pool;