Prologue
My mother was an actress, or that's what my dad always tells me. she went to Julliard and studied under the great Pierre Mohnton. She had her first role as Mary Poppins on Broadway. This was soon followed by Juliet in Shakespeare's epic love story. Dad has a shoebox of all the playbills from her shows, and pictures signed and smooched just for him. Eleanor Rucker. Then Eleanor Leiland.
She had to take a break in her acting career when she got pregnant with me. but as soon as she could, she was sending snapshots out to casting directors and film companies. I don't know exactly why she never came home one day. Maybe it was a car accident or maybe she simply didn't want the husband and child anymore. Dad never told me what happened. All I know is one day she was there and the next she wasn't.
Dad remarried when I was twelve. I didn't like Alison, though she was a good stepmother overall. I was constantly difficult and would not let her anywhere close to my emotions. She tried, but I was absolutely put off by the idea of a stepmother. Maybe it was all the fairy stories I read as a child and young teen. And when she had my dad's baby, that sent me over the top. I was fifteen when Timmy was born and I hated him and Alison more than anything.
Looking back, I realize how foolish and snobby I was to the both of them. I can't believe I acted so childish. But it is not my stupid treatment of my step family that this story entails. It is the instead the regaling tale of how I came to appreciate my step family.