Forever in my Heart

Chapter 1

Fresh out of college in the spring of 1990, Haley fell just one semester short of a degree from a respected art school in Chicago. Equipped with an impressive portfolio, she decided to take a few months off to re-charge. Being the small town girl that she was, art school was an adventure, but also put a lot of strain on Haley, physically and financially. It was often twelve hour days with her schedule and traveling back and forth by train. Additionally, the class assignments would take her into the night. Her art major, fashion illustration was dropped from the program, which left her side-tracked a bit.

The following year, 1991, had proved to be tumultuous. Living in Timberwood, Illinois for more than most of her 29 years, her life was uprooted when she and her mother and brother had to move suddenly out of the large farmhouse that they had rented for 20 years. Adorned with fabulous landscape, lush with lilac trees, fruit trees, grapevines, peonies and tulips the house was situated on a ½ acre of land. Strewn with bridle wreaths alongside the house, it was a nature lover’s dream.

The move was quite disheartening to her family. The rent payments were extremely reasonable, but the current housing on the market was at least twice that amount, but for only half the space. Basically, they’d be forced to live in an apartment.

This was only a prelude to the tragedy they’d have to face. The day before Mother’s Day of that year, Haley’s mom was exercising and suffered a heart attack. Emergency heart bypass surgery was the only option just two days later. Haley was in shock, but somehow still functioning. Her faith in God was at hand. Her stress was at an all time high. In two weeks they didn’t even know where they were going to live. But surprisingly that became secondary. Losing her father from pneumonia four years ago only fueled the anguish she was feeling.

Mom’s surgery was unbearable for Haley. Enduring a nervous breakdown would aptly describe her condition as she waited for the outcome. The news came four hours later that the surgery was a success, what a flood of relief and thankfulness. Recuperation would certainly be a delicate situation, but much anticipated.

The family rallied together to form a strong support for each other. Her sister, who had a family of her own, came to the rescue and offered a place to stay, in a nearby cabin. Her other brother, who also had a family and was active in real estate, stepped in to help out with the prospective living arrangement. After exhausted searches, it was revealed that Wisconsin seemed to be the way to go. Just over the border, affordable housing beckoned sighs of relief.

A new house was discovered in Shadow Oaks,

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