Thankfulness

Starting Over Fresh Chapter 1

This is the sequel to my story from last fall Keep Your Kids Close. It focuses on the development of Joanne and Frederick's characters after the events of Darryl's suicide. Their friends Casey Abramsom and Jasmine Samuels and their families will also be deeper explored. All these characters are my originals. No rights to Annie characters are my own. Frederick & Joanne turned 12 at the end of the last story and are in 7th grade.

Two weeks had passed since Darryl Abramson's suicide. Joanne Warbucks had struggled the most with dealing with the news and it still had not completely sunk in for her yet that Darryl was no longer around. She knew that her best friend Jasmine's sister Anna was also struggling immensely since they had dated.

Joanne was so lost in thought she did not hear the footsteps of someone running down the hallway to catch up with her. It was her friend Lauren.

"Hey Jo. Ready for the game today?"

Joanne smiled, happy to move her thoughts to something else. Lauren and Joanne were on the same travel soccer team and today they were playing their biggest rival.

"Yeah. I'm pretty nervous though. This other team is so tough and this could make or break our chance to get in the playoffs."

"Are you writing a story about the game for the paper?"

Joanne nodded. "Yeah, I'll probably write it tonight or tomorrow. The deadline for articles is Monday." Joanne was also on the school newspaper and covered all the sports teams.

"What were you daydreaming about just now?"

Joanne shook her head. "Not daydreaming, just thinking about the suicide. The past few weeks haven't been that easy you know."

Her friend nodded sadly. "I know how rough things have been for you guys. I think Darryl would want everyone to be happy though."

Joanne shrugged. "He probably would. I guess I still don't even understand why he had do something drastic like this in the first place."

"Not all questions have answers you know."

"Yeah, I know. My mom told me the same thing the day of the services."

The fall air was crisp on a mid October afternoon in Cambridge.. A perfect day for a soccer game. The game started at 3:30pm Grace, Oliver, Mrs. Pugh, Frederick, Annie, Hector and Victor sat in the stands next to Lauren's family.

Lauren's mother Christina smiled at Grace. "How's everything going Grace?"

"I think the kids are still struggling with the recent events. The past year has been rough on all of us but we'll endure this."

"How are your other friends doing?"

"We just went to Brooklyn two weeks ago to go visit our friends Erica and Tim. Their oldest daughter Anna dated Darryl for awhile last year before the shooting happened. She's dealt with everything the roughest. but seems to be doing a lot better now."

"Is this team they're playing against a really difficult team?" Hector asked his mother in law.

Grace nodded. "They're our travel team's biggest rival. This game should be the best of the season. We're happy you guys could come today."

Annie grinned at her mother. "We would never miss any of Jo or Freddie's games Mom. Plus Victor loves to watch soccer. When he gets older we might sign him for some classes at the YMCA."

The game was an hour and a half long. It was a tough match but the home team won 5-3. Oliver and Grace had come in separate cars and Mrs. Pugh and Oliver had left the game a few minutes early to get dinner started. Grace waited for her daughter at the gate and she came off the field 10 minutes later.

"Mama, can Lauren come over for dinner tonight?" Joanne asked.

Grace smiled and turned toward Lauren's mother. "Is that alright?"

Christina smiled. "Of course I'll pick her up around 8:30."

"What are we having Mrs. Warbucks?" Lauren asked

"Mr. Warbucks and Mrs. Pugh said they were going cook you girls something delicious to celebrate your big win today. They're going to surprise you!" Grace replied.

"I'll see you later sweetheart." Lauren's mother kissed her forehead.

"See you at 8:30 Mom."

Victor ran over to greet his aunt. "JO!" he cried excitedly.

Joanne smiled and scooped her nephew up. "Hey buddy. Did you have a good time?"

"Game fun!" The toddler replied as he nuzzled his head into Joanne's shoulder.

"Great game kiddo!" Annie kissed her sister's forehead softly.

"Thanks Annie. Let's go home now. I'm famished."

Once they got home Lauren and Joanne went upstairs to shower and then joined the rest of the family for dinner. Mrs. Pugh and Oliver had prepared a buffet of pasta, salad and vegetable platters.

"Great game today girls!" Oliver said kissing his youngest daughter on the forehead.

"Thanks Daddy. Let's eat!"

"Mama, what are we doing for Thanksgiving this year?" Joanne asked

"In the morning we're going to the high school football game then going to the Soup Kitchen. We're going over to Aunt Jen's for dinner around 4:30. Casey and his family will be joining us too. They plan to come over for dessert."

Frederick smiled. "Casey said he can't wait to see everyone on Thanksgiving. Jake has been in touch with him since the funeral and has really been helping him a lot dealing with everything."

"Mrs. Samuels called before the game this afternoon." Oliver said

Joanne's face up. "Really? Are we seeing them during Thanksgiving too?"

Oliver smiled. " Yes. On Friday the Abramsons will be coming with us to New York and we're all going to spend time in New York doing some holiday shopping."

"Horray!" Can we go to FAO Schwartz?" Frederick asked.

Grace smiled "I don't see why not!" "Lauren, what are your family's plans for Thanksgiving?"

Lauren swallowed a mouthful of pasta. "My dad's family lives in Atlantic City so we're going down there for the weekend. We're leaving on Wednesday and coming back Sunday."

October and November flew by in a blur. Pretty soon it was almost Thanksgiving time. Joanne was looking forward to the fact that the Abramsons. would be spending Thanksgiving with them.

Annie Molly and Joanne helped Mrs. Pugh and Grace get things ready for Thanksgiving dinner. Annie and Molly were quite happy that their little sister was old enough to take part in this family tradition.

"Mama what time are Casey and his family coming over?" Molly asked

"Around 5. They're going to have dinner at Mrs. Abramson's parent's house at 2:30."

Joanne smiled at her sisters, mother and grandmother. "Do you guys want to know what I am most thankful for this Thanksgiving?"

"What's that sweetheart?" Mrs. Pugh asked

"How close all this stuff with the suicide has brought our families together. Even though it's been a rough couple months for us all think our relationships with the Abramsons and the Samuels have grown stronger because of it."

Grace had tears in her eyes and kissed her youngest daughter softly on the forehead. " I couldn't have phrased that better myself Jo Bear. I love you so much."

"I love you too Mama. You guys all mean the world to me."