Colleen Heck

Memory-kisses Colleen Heck

I will be fine because I have learned that faith and love will see me through, and I will always have my memory-kisses. Following the death of her mother, Charilee Eytcheson moves to Florida to live with her grandparents while her father is away in the U. S. Navy. Feeling scared and alone, Chari has many questions-many of which have no easy answer: When will my daddy be home? Why did my mommy leave me? But most importantly, Chari can't understand why God would let this happen. She's angry and feels as if she will never be happy again. Chari learns how to fish with her grandfather and helps her grandmother around the house. She also meets a new best friend, Keturah, who becomes her "almost-sister". Through it all, Chari struggles to understand the constant mix of emotions flooding through her, which eventually explode one day in the school cafeteria after a class bully picks on her. Then Chari's grandmother, knowing that she needs time for her grief to subside, tells her about memory-kisses-memories made from our senses that will make her smile. Gram's explanation helps her to look at life in a whole new way. Follow Chari's journey through her pain as she learns from her grandparents and friends that life is still good.