

To Love, Honor and Cherish

Timothy Paterson

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2012 Timothy Paterson

Chapter 1

"What a dreary day?" thought Joe, as he drove through downtown San Francisco. It was Saturday, November 3rd and it was colder than usual for that time of year. It had started out as a sunny day, but it had been raining for an hour or so. The rain was coming down in buckets as Joe arrived at the diner.

Joe noticed two children standing in front of the diner, trying to shelter themselves from the cold wind and rain, by standing under the canopy. Joe noticed that they were both drenched and shivering and neither of them was wearing a coat. Joe parked the car, grabbed an extra jacket out of the back seat, and headed toward the front of the diner.

Joe invited the two children to come in to have lunch with him and get out of the rain. He gave the spare jacket to the girl and then removed his own jacket and gave it to the boy. They both appeared to be around eleven or twelve years old. Joe invited the two of them to have lunch with him. They immediately accepted his offer. They were both so famished, that they were well into their second servings, before they remembered to thank Joe for the meal.

As they were finishing their dessert and drinking hot chocolate, the two children introduced themselves to Joe. Mary was thirteen and her brother Matt was eleven. As they began to feel more comfortable, they began to tell Joe about themselves and their family. They lived with their mother, Elizabeth (Betty) Rogers and four more brothers; Mark was eight, Luke- six John – four, and Paul – two. Their mother was pregnant with one more child.

As the Mary and Matt continued, Joe was shocked by their tragic story. Five months earlier, their father, James Rogers had embezzled money from the accounting firm where he was employed, to pay off some gambling debts. After that, he cleaned out the family's checking and savings accounts and disappeared one night. They had not heard from him since.

Betty could not support the family on just her salary as a nurse and she discovered that Jim had not paid the mortgage for the last three months before he left. Betty was not able to come up with the money and the bank took their house from them. Betty thought that it might be better for all of them if they left Los Angeles and started a new life somewhere else. Therefore, they took what few belongings they had not sold to pay bills, and they moved to San Francisco.

Betty got a job at St. Luke's Hospital working in the Intensive Care Unit. She found a three-bedroom apartment that she could afford. It was very crowded, but it would have to do until they could afford something larger.

After paying the rent and utilities, there was not much left over for food and clothing. Betty hated seeing her children living in such poverty and she despised her husband for abandoning them.

After Mary and Matt had finished their dessert and hot chocolate, they said they had to get home before their mother started worrying. The rain was still coming down pretty hard and Joe didn't want them standing in it while waiting for a bus. He also knew that they might feel uncomfortable if he offered to drive them home. Even though Joe was only seventeen, he was still a stranger to the children.

Joe was considering sending them home in a cab, when he saw a police officer paying for his lunch. Joe knew Officer Reuben Peterson and he approached the officer and asked him if he would give the kids a ride home. Reuben told Joe that he would be glad to do it.

Joe reached into his pocket, pulled out several hundred-dollar bills, and handed them to Officer Peterson. "Give this money to their mother. I know she can use the assistance," said Joe. "She may try to refuse it, but tell her it is for her children. I'm confident that she'll accept it then".

Mary and Matt shook Joe's hand and thanked him again, before they got in to the squad car, and then they were gone.

Betty Rogers was beginning to worry. Mary and Matt were supposed to have been home over an hour ago. Betty wanted her children to have some independence and have some fun as well. Matt and Mary had asked to take the bus downtown and look in the store windows and go to the park.

The business district was in a safe part of town and she trusted her kids to run into a store, if they felt threatened. When they left that morning, it was not as cold and it was not raining. The kids were not wearing jackets, and Betty was afraid that they had been caught outside in the rainstorm.

While Betty was looking out the window, she saw a squad car pull up in front of their apartment. Mary, Matt and a police officer all got out and walked towards the door. Betty had a terrified look on her face as she opened the door. Before she could say anything, Officer Peterson informed her that the kids were ok and they were not in any kind of trouble.

Mary explained about being caught in the downpour, and about Joe buying them lunch. Betty started to scold them for talking to a stranger. Officer Peterson explained that Joe was concerned that they would get sick from standing out in the cold rain, and he meant them no harm. "Joe Williams is okay. I've known him for several years," said Officer Peterson. "His parents were killed in an automobile accident about five months ago. He is trying to get on with his life as best as he can".

Officer Peterson handed Betty the money that Joe had given to him. Betty saw that there was over a thousand dollars. As Joe had predicted, she tried to refuse it, but Officer Peterson told Betty that Joe wanted her to use the money to buy food and clothes for her kids.

"Joe can afford to give this to you," said Reuben. "His parents left him more than enough money to live on. Joe is a very generous and giving person with a good heart".

Betty was overwhelmed with emotion. She knew that the kids were not getting enough to eat and she often went without so that they could eat. She thanked Officer Peterson and told him to ask Joe to visit so that she could thank him appropriately. After the officer was gone, Betty sat down on the couch. As she looked at the money in her hands, she began to cry. She had been praying for a miracle to help her family and her prayers had been answered.

Later that afternoon, as Joe was driving home, he passed Officer Peterson, who gestured for Joe to pull over into a parking lot. After they got out of their cars, Reuben told Joe about his conversation with Betty Rogers. "That was a fine thing that you did for those kids and their family, Joe," he said. "They can sure use the money. They live in a very small apartment and are barely getting by".

"Mrs. Rogers was very grateful for what you did to help her children as well as for the money you gave them. She wants you to drop by their apartment so that she can thank you properly". Reuben wrote down the address and phone number, and handed the paper to Joe.

Before Reuben got into his patrol car, he put his hand on Joe's shoulder and said, "Your parents would be very proud of you Joe. I know I am."

As Joe drove home to his big empty house, he started thinking about his parents and eyes filled with tears. He missed them so much. Joe thought back to that fateful day of June 20th. It was his 17th birthday. He had just arrived home after getting off work and he found Officer Peterson and another officer waiting for him. They informed Joe that his parents had been killed in an automobile accident that afternoon.

Joe was devastated. He and his parents were very close and they were the only family he had. At age 17, Joe was all alone.
Chapter 2

Joseph Thomas Williams, known to most people as "Joe", was born in San Francisco to Sarah Rebecca (Martin) and Thomas John Williams III.

His mother, Sarah had come from a broken home in New York City. Her mother was only seventeen when Sarah was born. Sara never knew her father, as he disappeared before Sarah was born. Sarah's grandparents constantly reminded her mother what terrible mistakes she had made with her life. Sara's mother could not handle their constant negative remarks and she turned to alcohol and drugs, to block them out.

When Sarah was twelve, her mother died from an accidental overdose and Sarah's grandparents reluctantly took in Sarah. They did it out of obligation rather than love. They would never let Sarah forget the mistakes her mother had made and constantly reminded Sara that her mother was no good.

Sarah mentally blocked her grandparents out, by putting all of her effort and concentration into her schoolwork. All of her hard work and determination paid off. She received a four-year scholarship to Harvard University. The day after high school graduation, she left her grandparent's house and never returned.

Joe's father, Thomas John Williams III was the son of a wealthy family in Providence, Rhode Island. He had everything he could ever wish for while growing up. He had a nanny, as well as the cook and housekeeper, to watch over him. He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, as the saying goes.

Tom also attended Harvard University. His grades were not high enough to get a scholarship, but who needs a scholarship when your family has money.

It was at Harvard, where Tom met Sarah. They started dating and fell madly in love. After dating for a year, Tom proposed marriage and Sarah accepted. When Tom took Sarah home to meet his parents, it was a disaster. When Tom's father found out about Sarah's family, he told Tom that if he married her, he would be cut off from the family and his inheritance. Tom thought his father was just bluffing. He and Sarah really wanted to be married and eloped two weeks later. They thought his father would accept the marriage since it was now official.

When Tom's father found out about the marriage, he was very angry. He cut Tom off from the family and stopped funding Tom's college expenses. Tom became so angry, that he and Sarah moved as far away from his parents as they could.

Sarah was able to get her scholarship transferred to Stanford University in California.

Tom, however, had no scholarship and no money, so he had to drop out of school and get a job. Since he had worked with computers before, he found a job working for a new computer company called Microsoft. As Tom's skills grew, he moved up in the company and he bought as much stock in the company as he could. It turned out that Tom was a computer genius.

Three years after they were married, Tom and Sarah were blessed with a son whom they named Joseph Thomas Williams. As Joey got older, his parents saw that he was very intelligent. They put him in a school for gifted students. When he was six years old, Joe became fascinated by the stock market and started giving his dad stock tips. By the time Joe was ten, he was handling his parent's stock portfolio. Joe skipped through a couple of grades and graduated from high school before he was sixteen. At age sixteen, he had the maturity of an adult.

By this time, Tom had opened his own computer company that he named SaraCom. Joe worked part time with him, while going to college full time. With Joe's handling of their stocks and investments, and the stock share prices of Microsoft skyrocketing, Tom and his family were worth more than fifty million dollars.

Sarah had graduated from Stanford University with a degree in nursing. After graduating, she got a job at San Francisco General Hospital working as an obstetrics nurse. She did not have to work, as they did not need the money, but Sarah loved helping people and she loved being a nurse.

When Joe's parents were killed, Joe inherited everything, the stocks, the house and SaraCom Company. He became CEO and president of the company. He let the vice president of the company handle the day-to-day operations, while he finished college. Joe wanted to maintain a low profile. He still worked at the company part time, but only a few people knew that he owned the company. Through his lawyer, Joe was able to be a private millionaire. After the death of his parents, Joe had to grow up fast and deal with everything in his life. At this point in his life, Joe was no longer a kid. His childhood was behind him.

Chapter 3

On Sunday afternoon, November 4th, Joe telephoned Mrs. Rogers and asked if it was a good time for him to visit. Betty invited Joe over for dinner. She had used some of the money she got from Joe, to stock her refrigerator and pantry with food and she was planning a big Sunday dinner.

When Joe arrived at the apartment, all six of Betty's children greeted him at the door. As he entered the apartment, Mrs. Rogers walked into the living room from the kitchen. When Joe extended his hand, Betty pushed it aside and gave him a big hug. She thanked him for helping her children at the diner and for the money, he had given her. Joe handed her some flowers that he had picked from his garden and Mary took them into the kitchen to put them in a vase.

After a few minutes of small talk, Betty told Joe to make himself comfortable while she finished making dinner. Mary and Matt gave Joe a tour of the apartment.

When they returned to the living room, all of the kids were excited and they all started talking at once. Joe suggested that they could all play a game, if they were quiet. When Betty returned to check on her kids, she saw them quietly playing a game with Joe. They were laughing and smiling and no one was arguing or fighting. For a moment, Betty thought she was in the wrong house.

When Betty called everyone to the dinner table, Joe pulled out the chair for Betty. Matt saw him do it and he quickly pulled out the chair for Mary, and seated her. When everyone was seated, Matt started reaching for the potatoes. He stopped when Joe asked "Shouldn't we thank God for this wonderful meal?"

After they said grace, Betty was amazed at what she saw. Joe put his napkin in his lap and then Betty watched as Mary, Matt, Mark Luke and John did the same thing. They were trying to use good manners like Joe. When Luke tried to say something to Joe with his mouth full of food, Joe said, "I'm sorry Luke. I could not understand you. Why don't you finish chewing and swallowing the food in your mouth and then say it again."

As they were finishing dessert, Joe said, "This meal was good as the ones my mom used to cook. Thank you very much."

Mrs. Rogers smiled a big smile and started to get up to clear the table. Joe told her "Mrs. Rogers, you cooked this great meal. Why don't you just relax, while we clear the table and clean the kitchen?" So, Joe, Mary, Matt and Mark cleared the table, washed and dried the dishes and cleaned the kitchen, while Betty got Luke, John and Paul into their pajamas.

By the time everything was clean, it was eight o'clock. Mrs. Rogers told the older children to take showers and get ready for bed. They started to argue with her. They wanted to stay up longer and talk to Joe. Joe told them that if they did what they were told, that he might be able to come over again. They stopped arguing and went to their rooms to get ready for bed.

Before they went to bed, they went into the living room to hug their mom good night and to say goodnight to Joe. John and Paul were the last to say good night and after they hugged their mother good night, they ran up to Joe and hugged him as well. "I hope you can come over again Joe," said John. Then, he and Paul ran upstairs to their beds.

After the children had gone to bed, Joe and Betty talked for a couple more hours. Joe talked about his parents, and the accident and he told Betty how comfortable he felt with her family. When he got up to leave, Betty told him "I don't know if it's the way my kids look up to you, or if it's my maternal instinct kicking in, but I see that you are a very decent young man and you set a good example for my children. Feel free to come around here more often. Joe thanked her and then he drove home.
Chapter 4

Over the next couple of weeks, Joe visited the Rogers family often. He helped the kids with homework, played games with them and talked with them. They became very close.

Joe saw how hard Mrs. Rogers worked and how little money she had after paying her bills. Betty worked the night shift at the hospital and had to hire a sitter to watch them while she worked. When she could not afford a sitter, Mary was left in charge of the rest of the kids.

Joe tried to help by giving Betty money to help with the bills, but he knew it was hard for her to accept the financial help from him.

One Saturday morning, Joe arrived at the apartment and told Mrs. Rogers that he would stay with the kids for the entire day, while she spent the entire day by herself. He told her that he had made her an appointment at a day spa and that it was already paid for, where she could pamper herself for a change. Joe also gave her five hundred dollars to go on a shopping spree, but only for her, not the kids. Betty resisted at first, but finally she gave in and Joe told her not to be back before dinner.

Betty went to the day spa, had a facial, a haircut, manicure, and pedicure, and even had a massage. She ate lunch at a fancy café and then bought some things that she had wanted for a long time, but could not afford. By five o'clock, she felt like a new woman, completely rejuvenated.

When Betty returned home, she found that Joe and her children had cleaned her house, done all the laundry, and had dinner on the table. The kids were laughing and were happier than Betty had seen them in a very long time. Betty said a silent prayer, thanking God for bringing Joe into their lives.

After dinner, Joe invited the entire Rogers family to his house for Thanksgiving dinner the following week. Betty and her children quickly accepted his offer.

Chapter 5

Early in the morning on Thanksgiving Day, the Rogers family loaded up into their van and drove to Joe's house. As they pulled onto the street that Joe lived on, Betty noticed how nice the neighborhood looked. The houses were not pretentious, but they were much larger than the one they used to live in. As they pulled into the driveway of Joe's house, Joe came out to greet them.

After they had taken off their coats, Joe gave them a tour of his house. He started with the second floor. Besides the master bedroom, there were six other bedrooms, which were good sized. The master bedroom and three of the other bedrooms had private bathrooms. The other three bedrooms shared two bathrooms between them. All of the bedrooms were furnished, but Joe's room was the only one that looked lived in. Joe had finally cleaned all of his parents' things out of the master bedroom and had donated most of the clothing and personal items to charity, within the past few weeks.

On the first floor, there was a very comfortable living room, a family room, two bathrooms, a large dining room, a laundry room and a large kitchen that would make even a gourmet cook jealous. There was also a library. All of the rooms on the first floor had polished hardwood floors, except for the bathrooms, the kitchen and the laundry room.

Betty's favorite room was the kitchen. Besides a built-in refrigerator, and two ovens with stovetops and microwave oven, there was a huge island with food prep area and double sinks on both sides of the island. There were plenty of cabinets and lots of counter space, with a breakfast nook, which could easily seat ten people.

There was a double gas fireplace. One side faced out into the kitchen and the other side faced out into the dining room. There was a separate fireplace in the family room as well.

Matt and Mary thought the library was the coolest room in the house. There were bookshelves on three walls of the room, filled with books, from children's stories, to the classics. There was a huge reference section and a medical reference section as well. There must have been over two thousand books. On the fourth wall, there were two computers with large flat screens. There was also a work desk between the two computers. In the middle of the room, there was a long table with chairs, as well as a couple of overstuffed chairs for pleasure reading.

The basement was divided into three large rooms. The first one was a huge playroom with shelves filled with Joe's old toys and games. There was plenty of floor space for kids to play, as well as a table and chairs to play games or do puzzles.

The second room of the basement had a pool table, four arcade games, and a jukebox. There was a full service bar, though it was only stocked with soda, ice cream, and snacks, because Joe did not drink.

The third large room in the basement contained a large entertainment center complete with large plasma screen television, DVD player, VCR, and a state of the art stereo system, which was connected to speakers throughout the basement. There was a collection of over 300 DVD's and videotapes, and over 500 CD's, of all types of music. There were a couple couches and a few chairs, so that fifteen people could sit comfortably.

The basement had a couple of smaller rooms for the furnace and storage as well as two bathrooms. The garage was a three-car garage, but one third of it was used as a workshop.

After the tour, Joe told them to make themselves at home, while he started on dinner. Betty offered to help, but Joe would not let her. Joe did, however, allow Mary and Matt to help him, when they asked.

While Matt and Mary went to wash up, Joe took the other children to the basement to play with the toys and games. Joe pulled Mrs. Rogers aside and told her that he had a proposition for her.

"Mrs. Rogers, I would like to invite you and your family to move into this house and share it with me. I have thought a lot about it. This house used to be full of life and laughter when my parents were alive, but since they died, I have lost my zest for life. In addition, this house is too big for just me and has become like a tomb. Since your family has come into my life, my life has meaning once more. I like your kids and I think that they like me too. There is plenty of room for all of us in the house. Mary could have her own room with a private bathroom. She is at the age when she needs her privacy. The boys would be less crowded as well. This house is in one of the best school districts in the city." Joe could see that Betty was thinking it over in her mind, and he continued. Since you work the night shift, I would be here in the house while you were at work and you wouldn't have to pay a sitter."

Betty told Joe that she could not burden him by moving herself and her six children into his house. "It wouldn't be a burden to me, it would be a blessing" said Joe. "Think it over and I won't mention it to the kids, so they won't influence your decision in any way". Betty told Joe that she would think it over and let him know.

While Betty went into the playroom to keep an eye on the younger children, Joe went upstairs to the kitchen to start working on dinner. Mary and Matt were ready to start cooking. They were thrilled to be included in the preparation of Thanksgiving dinner. They felt very grown up, because Joe was giving them responsibilities and he did not treat them like little kids.

After the salads were made and the side dishes were prepared, Matt and Mary set the table with fine china and crystal and sterling silverware. Joe directed them where to place the dishes and the silverware.While the turkey and the pies were baking, Joe showed them how to fold the napkins into fans and put them on the plates.

When the pies were done, Joe asked Matt if he would like to say the prayer at dinner, since he was the man of the family. Matt suddenly looked upset and after a few seconds, he said, "Maybe you should say the prayer, Joe. I'm not good enough to be the man of the family". Joe asked him what he meant by that. Matt was quiet for a minute, and then he told Joe and Mary something that he had not told another soul.

"About a year ago, when he was still living with us, my dad wanted me to try out for the football team at school. I did not want to, because I am not interested in football. I tried to tell him that, but he would not listen to me. He kept pushing me to try out and when he realized that he was not going to change my mind, he called me a big sissy and a wimp. He told me that I would never be a real man, because I did not have what it took to be one. I tried to explain that I was interested in writing, drawing, and painting, but he just turned his back on me and walked out of the room. Every time he saw me after that, he looked at me differently, like I was no longer his son". Matt choked back a few tears and then added. "Dad probably left because I was such a disappointment to him."

Betty had gone upstairs to check on Mary and Matt and she had stopped outside the kitchen door, when she heard Matt talking. After she heard what he said, she wanted to run into the room, hold her son, and tell him everything would be all right, but she fought the urge.

Joe was angry that Matt's dad had made him feel that bad about himself. Joe looked Matt in the eye and told him, "Matt, for the past five months, you have helped your mother take care of your brothers and sister. You have given up your free time and five months of your youth, to be responsible for your family. I would call that being the man of the family. Your dad walked out on you kids, and your mother. He took all of your money and left you with all the bills. You lost your house because of him. He was the one who was not acting like a 'man'. You had nothing to do with his choice to leave. Do you hear me Matt? Nothing! You are not responsible for his actions."

Matt, who had been holding these feeling inside for several months, suddenly let it all come pouring out, all of his hurting, his anger and his guilt. He started crying and yelling "I hate him. I hate him for leaving and I hate him for making me feel like I was a nothing, as if I was worthless. I hate him for making Mom cry herself to sleep all those nights after he left."

Joe held Matt and let him cry for a while, until he was all cried out. Matt did not want to let go of Joe. When he finally let go, Joe started talking. "Don't hate your dad for what he did. He has many problems, including gambling. You can hate what he did to you and your family, but when you hate him, after a while the hate makes you a bitter person. It makes your heart cold. You can ask God to help him to become a better person."

Mary gave Matt a big hug and told him how proud she was to be his sister. Matt was starting to feel a little better and he said, "I hope that when I grow up, I will be as good a man as you Joe."

Betty had heard everything Joe had said and thought Joe handled the situation better than she could have. Joe was the male influence that her children needed in their lives right now. At that moment, she had made her decision.

As everyone stood around the dining room table, which was loaded with a delicious Thanksgiving dinner, they all joined hands and Joe said a prayer of thanks. "Heavenly Father, we give you thanks for this beautiful day and for this meal before us. Thank you for bringing this family into my life at a time when I needed them. My parents are with you now, and now I have this family to keep the sadness away. Please keep us all safe and help us to appreciate the gifts you have given us." Then Joe asked if anyone else wanted to add anything.

Matt surprised everyone with what he added. "God, please help my father to overcome his gambling addiction and watch over him. He needs your guidance to help turn his life around. Please help me to forgive him and not hate him for what he did. And God, we can never thank you enough for bringing Joe into our lives. He is my best friend in the whole world. Amen".

Betty hugged her son and told him, "Today, you have shown maturity beyond your years. You have acted like a man and I am so proud of you." Matt thanked her and had a big smile on his face. He had never felt prouder of himself.

After everyone sat down, Joe stood in front of the platter with the turkey, preparing to carve it. Then, he handed the fork and carving knife to Matt and told him that he should carve the turkey. Joe talked Matt through the process of carving the turkey. Matt felt so proud to be carving the turkey. His father had always done it before. He felt like he was walking on air.

Everyone enjoyed the dinner. Laughter filled the room. As the pumpkin pie was being served, Mrs. Rogers got everyone's attention and began to speak. "Joe has asked if we would move into this house and share it with him. If all of you are okay with this, we can move in next week". Everybody started cheering and said yes. Then Betty said, "Well Joe, I guess it's unanimous. We accept your offer. All of the kids ran to their mother and hugged her and then they hugged Joe.

After dinner, when Joe started to clear the table, Matt and Mary told him that they would clean up. "Joe, you can relax for a change. You deserve a break."

While Matt and Mary were in the kitchen cleaning up, and the younger children were playing in the basement, Joe and Betty drank coffee and talked. Betty told Joe that she overheard his talk with Matt.

"Thank you for what you said to him. I had no idea that he was carrying that guilt and pain around for those many months. I guess it was something that he could not talk to me about. My children look up to you Joe. You are a great role model for them, and all of them need a good male role model in their lives, especially the boys. That is why I made the decision to move into this house.
Chapter 6

On the Monday after Thanksgiving, Betty and her family moved into Joe's house. They did not have much furniture, so all of their belongings fit onto one small truck. They were settled in by that evening.

At first, Betty did not want to have the master bedroom. She thought that Joe should have it. Joe told her that it was too soon after his parents had died, and that she needed a place to get away from the kids occasionally.

Joe had fixed up the master bedroom to look like a hotel suite. Besides a king sized bed, there was a small table with chairs, an overstuffed chair, a dressing table, a chest of drawers, a huge walk-in closet, a small refrigerator and an automatic coffee maker and a small sink. The bedroom also had a private bath with a Jacuzzi as well as a shower.

Mary was given the room next to her mother's room, also with a private bath. Matt got the other room with a private bath. The four younger boys shared two of the other rooms, with Mark and Luke in one and Paul and John in the other. The empty room on the other side of Betty's room would be the nursery for the baby when it was born. Joe kept the room that he had lived in since he was a small boy.

That night, after they were all settled in, and had eaten dinner, Betty told the children to go to bed and get a good night's rest. She and Joe talked for another hour or so before they retired for the evening.

The next morning, Betty got her kids up at 7AM to get ready for their first day at their new school. When the kids went downstairs, they found that Joe had breakfast all ready for them. He had made pancakes and scrambled eggs. They also had milk and fruit. Joe had made coffee for Betty and himself.

After breakfast, they headed to their new schools in their van. Luke and Mark were very excited. Luke was in the first grade and Mark was in the third grade. Matt and Mary, however, were a little nervous about starting a new school. Matt was in the sixth grade and Mary was in the eighth grade. They had only been to their previous school for 3 months. Now, they had to start yet another school. They would both be going to the same middle school.

Joe tried to help them relax, by telling them stories about himself when he went to the same middle school years earlier. Before long, he had them laughing and they became less nervous.

When Betty registered the kids at the schools, everything went very smoothly. She had called the previous school and they had transferred the school records to the new schools. Joe had called the schools and talked with the principals. Because Joe had been so popular and well liked when he was in school; the staff was very helpful in getting his children to feel at home in their new classrooms.

That afternoon, the four school-aged children rode the buses home. Joe had written down the address of the house and he had given the address to the bus drivers, so that the kids would get off at the right stop.

On the first day, Matt and Mary came home with a lot of homework. They were behind in schoolwork and had to do a lot of it at home, so they could catch up with the rest of their classes. Joe and their mother helped them get caught up, and by the end of the semester, they were in the top third of their classes.

The family soon fell into a comfortable daily routine. Joe got up at 5:15 and had breakfast ready for the kids when they got up at 6:00. After breakfast, the kids brushed their teeth and got dressed. The school buses for both the middle school and the elementary school came around 7:30. Matt and Mary waited at the corner for their bus and Luke and Mark waited in front of their house for their bus, with Joe, Paul and John waiting with them.

Betty got home from the hospital between 7:30 and 8:00 and she took care of John and Paul while Joe attended class at the university. Joe had graduated from high school at age 16 and had already taken quite a few college courses while still in high school. He had also been allowed to take the final exams for some college classes for credit. Joe was very gifted when it came to academics. He also had a photographic memory. He would have his bachelor degree in Business Administration by the time he was nineteen.

When John and Paul took naps, Betty also took a nap. She also took care of the house and prepared dinner.

The four oldest kids were home from school by 4:00 and Joe was usually home from school by 4:00-4:30. After an early dinner, Betty slept until 10:00pm. Joe and the older kids cleaned up the kitchen and Joe helped with homework and watched the younger ones.

While the older kids were taking showers and getting ready for bed, Joe gave the younger ones baths and got them into their pajamas. After all the kids had brushed their teeth, they were in bed by 9:00pm.

Joe then studied for his classes for a couple of hours before going to bed. Betty got up at 10:00 and was off to the hospital by 10:30. She worked from 11pm to 7am. Joe was home all night, and was there to comfort any of the kids if they were sick or had bad dreams.

On the days when Joe did not have classes, he worked at the SaraCom building. Only a few executives knew that Joe was the CEO and president. To everybody else, he was just another employee. Joe was a genius when it came to computers, just as his dad had been. Joe frequently took some work home with him on weekends and worked on his computer at home.

On Saturday mornings, Matt and Mary slept in, while Joe watched the younger children.

When Betty got off work, she went home and slept until noon. Joe and the kids cleaned the house, made breakfast and lunch. In the afternoons, the family played games or went to the park. Saturday dinners were usually takeout such as pizza or Chinese food so that Joe and Betty got a break from cooking. In the evenings, they might watch a video or go to an early movie at the theater.

On Sunday mornings, they all went to church together. Since the Rogers family and Joe were all Lutherans, Betty and her family became members of the church that Joe had been going to since he was a child. After the church service, the older children went to Sunday school, while Paul played in the nursery. Joe and Betty attended adult bible study.

After church, the family would spend the day relaxing, sometimes going to the beach, or going on picnics or visiting state parks.

Betty and the children liked living with Joe and Joe felt like he was part of their family. He felt like he now belonged somewhere. He could not imagine life getting much better.

Chapter 7

On the second Saturday in December, Joe told the kids that he had a special day planned for them. Betty had taken Friday night off, so she would be with her family on Saturday.

After breakfast, everybody piled into the family van and headed to Northern California. Only Joe and Betty knew where they were headed. The kids were told to bring a sweater and a jacket, because they might get cold where they were going. As Joe drove, everybody sang Christmas songs, and everybody was in such high spirits laughing and singing that the three-hour trip seemed like no time at all.

It was almost ten o'clock when they arrived at their destination. As the kids looked around, they realized they were at a Christmas tree farm. Joe informed them that they were going to cut down their own tree, take it back to the house, and decorate it.

Betty stayed at the store with John and Paul, while Matt, Mary, Mark and Luke climbed up onto a wagon with Joe, and headed out to the area where the trees were. Once there, Joe told Mary that she could pick out any tree that she wanted.

As they walked around, looking at the trees, the kids were very excited. In past years, they had always purchased their tree from a tree lot in town. As they walked, they came across patches of snow that had not melted. They did not have snow in San Francisco, so they threw snowballs at each other and even hit Joe with a couple of them.

Mary must have looked at over a hundred trees before she found the perfect tree. It was a seven-foot tall Douglas fir tree. Joe and Mary's brothers all agreed with her that the tree was the perfect Christmas tree. Joe and Matt cut down the tree with a saw and helped load it onto the wagon.

When they got back to the store, the tree was wrapped and tied onto the top of the van. Everybody had hot chocolate and cookies. When they had finished eating, they all went on an old-fashioned sleigh ride. Betty saw her children laughing and smiling and it made her feel warm inside. Silently, she thanked God, once again for bringing Joe into their lives.

It was after one o'clock in the afternoon when they started for home. When they were halfway home, they stopped at a rest area to eat the delicious lunch that Betty had prepared.

By the time they finally arrived home, it was five o'clock. Joe and Matt put the tree in a bucket of water to soak up water before they put it the tree stand. Then, with help from Mary and Matt, Joe got several boxes from a room in the basement. The boxes were filled with Christmas decorations. They took the boxes upstairs to the family room.

When Joe opened the first box and saw the decorations, he was suddenly overcome with sadness. This was the first Christmas since his parents had died. As Joe sat there, overcome with emotion, a tear rolled down his cheek. When Mary asked him what was wrong, Joe told them that he and his parents had such good times around the holidays and had loved Christmas and that he really missed them.

Mary gave Joe a big hug and told him "We're your family now, Joe". Joe could not hold back his emotions any longer. The tears started flowing. Joe was sad and missed his parents, but at the same time, he was happy to be part of the Rogers family.As the rest of the family hugged Joe, the tears turned to smiles and Joe felt good inside. Joe knew that everything was going to be just fine.

Joe and his new family began to decorate the entire house and when they were finished, everything looked beautiful and magical. After a late dinner, everyone went to bed full of excitement.

After they returned from church the next morning, they changed clothes and prepared to decorate the Christmas tree. Joe and Matt put the tree in the stand in the family room, which had a nine-foot ceiling.

Joe put the lights on the tree and then the children started putting the ornaments on the tree. There was a huge assortment of them, from glass and crystal, to homemade ones that Joe had made when he was younger. As the kids hung the homemade ornaments, Joe told them when he had made them and memories associated with them.

Mary and Betty had strung popcorn on thread and they placed the strings of popcorn on the branches of the tree. Matt and Mark hung candy canes on the branches.

When they had finished decorating the tree, Joe opened a small box and carefully took out a beautiful angel ornament. Joe's parents had bought it for his first Christmas and it was always the last thing to be put on the tree. Joe handed the ornament to Paul and lifted him up. Paul, carefully placed the angel on the very top of the tree.

Joe then turned out the lights and threw the switch that controlled the Christmas lights. The tree lit up the entire room. Everybody was silent for a moment, taking in the splendor of the tree. It was the most beautiful tree that Joe had ever seen. The Rogers family agreed with him. They sang "Oh Christmas Tree" as well as several more Christmas carols.

As Christmas grew closer, the younger children were trying to be as good as they could, so that Santa would bring them presents. Joe gathered the children together one day while their mother was out of the house and suggested that they each make a special present for their mother for Christmas. He told them to put a lot of thought into their present, using their talents. Joe told them that he would help them in any way he could, but that the idea had to come from them.

Over the next week or so, there was a lot of secrecy going on throughout the house. Each of the children was busy working on their present. The house was full of laughter, giggles and whispers. Everything was perfect, until one day when Mark became very angry at something he had overheard.

One afternoon, Mary and Matt were talking and Matt said how stupid it was to believe in Santa. Mark overheard him say that and became very upset. He was hurt and confused. He did not know what to believe anymore. When Joe asked him why he was so upset, Mark told Joe what he had overheard Matt say. He asked Joe if Santa was real. Joe looked at him and told him that Santa was magic and that if he believed, really believed in Santa, he would not be disappointed on Christmas morning.

That night, Joe came up with a plan to make this a terrific Christmas for the entire family, one that they would always remember. Joe had already bought special gifts for each of the children as well as Betty. Now, he started to make many secret phone calls to people who would help him carry out his plan.

Mary and Matt were busier that the others, as they had final exams to take before the winter break. They were both glad when their tests were finally over.

Soon, it was just four days until Christmas. As everyone was putting the finishing touches on their gifts for their mother, Joe was finalizing the last details of his surprise. Betty had picked up a special surprise for Joe, from a studio downtown. One day while Joe was out, Betty took the children to a photography studio to help make the special surprise.

Christmas Eve finally arrived. That afternoon, Joe escorted Betty to a chair in the family room and told her that the children each had made special gifts for her.

Paul and John were first. They presented their mom with a box wrapped in paper that they had decorated themselves. Betty opened the box and saw several Christmas cookies.

She tasted one and said it was delicious. "We made them all by ourselves," said John, "Joe super-sized us while we were making them" Betty had a puzzled look on her face and then Joe said "I supervised you, not super-sized you." Everybody laughed, including John.

Betty hugged John and Paul and thanked them for their present.

Luke was next. Joe helped him bring a large cardboard box into the room. The box had been turned into a puppet theater. Luke got inside it and using sock puppets that he had made, he put on a puppet show titled 'Santa Goes on a Diet.' Everyone thought it was very funny. Paul was rolling on the floor laughing. Betty laughed so hard that she had tears in her eyes.

Next was Mark's turn. He gave Betty a homemade booklet filled with poems that he had written. He read a couple of them aloud and everybody clapped really loud.

Matt handed his mother her present. When Betty opened the box, she found a twenty-page story that Matt had written, titled 'The Best Gift of All.'. It was a story about the Rogers family and how their mother was the greatest gift that Matt could ever want. He had typed it up on the computer and did the art work on the cover himself, as well as the illustrations. As Betty finished reading the story, she hugged Matt and told him that she would treasure it always.

For Mary's gift, Joe led everyone to the basement to where the big screen television was. After everyone was seated, Mary put a videotape in the VCR and started the tape. Joe had helped Mary with her gift, by being her camera operator for her first video. As everyone watched the screen, they saw Mary sing several Christmas songs in different locations.

She sang 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer' at the zoo with reindeer in the background. She sang 'Jingle Bells' while sitting in a 'one horse open sleigh'. She sang 'The Christmas Song' in front of a crackling fire with chestnuts roasting. She sang 'What Child is this?' near the church's Nativity Scene. Matt was dressed like a drummer boy and played a drum while Mary sang 'The Little Drummer Boy'. Her final song on the video was 'Silent Night' and she performed it at night, outside, with the sky filled with bright stars on a clear night. Mary had such a beautiful voice, that it filled everyone in the room with the spirit of Christmas.

Matt told Mary that she had a beautiful voice.

After the video was over, Betty looked at all of her children and told them that it was the best Christmas she had ever had, because all of their gifts came from their hearts and represented the true meaning of Christmas. She hugged all of them and then looked at Joe and said "Thank you".

That evening, as the family entered the church for the Christmas Eve service, they were all filled with love and compassion. It was a beautiful service and when it was over, they sang Christmas carols all the way home.

When they arrived home, everybody changed into their pajamas. They gathered in the family room as Joe read the Christmas story from the bible. Then the kids begged Joe to read 'The Night before Christmas'. When he was finished, they hung their stockings by the fireplace, which did not have a fire in it (Paul and John were afraid that Santa might be burned in the fire). The last thing they did before they went to bed was to put out a plate of cookies and a glass of milk for Santa, and some carrots for his reindeer.

After the children had gone to bed, Betty thanked Joe for the best Christmas that she and her children had ever had. Joe replied, "It's not over yet. The best is yet to come." Joe explained his plan to Betty and told her to go along with it, and the kids would have an experience of a lifetime.
Chapter 8

It was early Christmas morning around one o'clock. Joe was in his room, waiting for the signal. Suddenly, his pager went off. His plan was about to unfold. Joe heard someone downstairs. He peeked out of his room and saw Mark and Luke sneaking down the stairs, followed soon after, by Mary and Matt and finally, John and Paul snuck down as well.

Mark was determined to prove to Matt and Mary that Santa was real. He had his disposable camera with him. When he was halfway down the stairs, he stopped, too shocked to move or say anything. There in the family room, was someone in a big red coat and pants that were both trimmed with white. "It's Santa" thought Mark and snapped a couple photos of him. Santa turned to look at him and when Mark saw his face, he knew that it was Santa.

By now, the rest of the kids were sitting on the stairs watching Santa put presents under the Christmas tree. Matt and Mary were whispering to each other. Matt thought that it was Joe in a Santa suit, and Mary thought it was their mom in the suit. As they were discussing it, they heard someone coming down the stairs behind them. They turned around and were both shocked to see both their mother and Joe standing there. They looked back in the family room and Santa was still there. "Could Santa be real after all?" they both thought.

Betty told everyone to go back to bed before Santa took back all of the presents. Matt started to ask a question, "How....?", but before he could finish his question, his mom just said "To bed, now!"

When all of the kids were back in bed, they heard noises coming from the roof. They heard bells jingling, animal noises, and something moving across the roof. They also heard someone saying a lot of "Ho-Ho-Ho's and then they all heard: "Merry Christmas to all of you".

None of the kids could go to sleep. The younger ones were very excited that they saw Santa and they were anxious to open their presents. Mary and Matt could not sleep because they were very confused and bewildered. They both believed that there was no Santa, not a real one anyway. Yet, they had both seen him and heard a sleigh and reindeer as well as Santa on their roof.

The children finally fell back to sleep. By six o'clock, everybody was up, and when Betty and Joe went downstairs, they found all six children eagerly waiting for them in the family room.

Joe asked Matt if he would go outside and get the newspaper. Both Matt and Mary ran to the door and to the porch to get the paper. They looked down at the ground and they saw a few piles of reindeer droppings on the lawn. Both of them were speechless.

Betty went after them to see what was keeping them, and found them standing on the porch staring at the lawn. For a minute, neither of them spoke, then, Matt asked his mom "Santa isn't real, is he? He can't be real. It does not make sense. But, we all saw him last night. We all heard him on the roof. We heard a sleigh and reindeer on our roof, and there are reindeer droppings in our front yard. Was it all a dream?" Both Mary and Matt had a strange look on their faces. They were a little scared, a little anxious and they also felt awe and wonder that they had not felt since they were six or seven, and Christmas was still magical and mystical.

Betty put an arm around each of them and said; "Christmas is a time of magic, mystery and wonder. Reality does not always make sense, and imagination sometimes makes things seem real. Merry Christmas to both of you. Now, let's go inside and open presents"

It was over a year later, that Matt and Mary found out how Joe and their mom had pulled this Christmas magic off. Joe had found someone who was a professional Santa and Joe arranged for him to deliver the presents at their house. Joe had gotten some reindeer droppings from the zoo, to put in the yard. As for the noises on the roof, Joe and a friend had installed speakers and a sound system in the attic space above the bedrooms and had recorded the noises that the kids had heard. Joe had a remote control device to turn the recording on and off. In subsequent years, Mary and Matt helped Joe to fool the younger children.

It was finally time to open presents. By this time, all of the children were convinced that Santa had brought the gifts. Each of the children received a lot of new clothes as well as new shoes and a new coat. Betty's gifts included a new coat, a luxurious bathrobe, and several gift certificates to clothing stores to buy herself a new wardrobe and new nursing uniforms after the baby was born.

Each of the children also got one or two things that they really wanted. John got a racetrack. Luke got a magic set. Mark got a basketball and a pair of rollerblades with pads and helmet. Matt was ecstatic when he opened his gifts, which included a nice pen and pencil set, journals and a nice supply of art supplies- paints, sketch books, etc... Mary received a nice tennis racquet and instructional book and video about tennis. She had been interested in tennis and wanted to learn how to play. The gift that she loved the most was a beautiful, fancy dress that fit her perfectly and a pair of clip-on diamond earrings.

There was one present left under the tree. It was a small box addressed to Betty. She opened it and found a set of car keys and a note that said to go to the garage. When Betty opened the garage, she saw a brand new van that could seat 11 people. Betty started crying. Her old van was 11 years old and kept breaking down, and they really needed a new van.

While the kids were playing with their toys, Betty told Joe that he should not have bought all of the gifts, clothes and the van. Joe told her that his parents left him more money than he could ever use. "Besides, you and your kids are my family now," said Joe.

Betty hugged Joe and told him "your parents would be so proud of you, Joe."

Suddenly, Matt and Mary ran into the room. "Mom, we forgot to give Joe his present," said Mary. Then, she and Matt handed Joe a large flat package. Joe opened the present and found a portrait of the Rogers family. Joe loved it and he thanked them and went to hang it in his bedroom.

The next day, Joe took Mark's disposable camera to be developed. He made copies of the Santa photos for each of the children as well as one for Betty and one for himself, so that they would always remember their first Christmas together.
Chapter 9

The rest of Christmas vacation flew by. Before long, school was back in session. Mary was getting excited about upcoming events in her life. In May, she would be confirmed and in June, she would graduate from the eighth grade. She started hitting the books with a renewed vengeance, studying as much as possible.

Matt, was glad school was back in session as well. He had many friends at school and he liked hanging around with them. Matt had been going through a major growth spurt and as he got taller, he felt awkward and clumsy. He found himself tripping over his own feet. Matt also found that the girls were smiling at him a lot and when they did, he felt funny inside. He got embarrassed and would turn away from them.

One evening in late January, Matt told Joe that he had found himself acting goofy whenever there were girls around, and that he had become very clumsy. Joe told him that he was probably going through puberty.

Joe asked Matt if his father had ever talked to him about the 'Birds and the Bees'. "You mean the sex talk?" asked Matt, "He was supposed to tell me everything when I turned twelve next month, but now he's gone."

Joe told Matt, that if his mother approved, he would tell Matt all he needed to know. The next morning, Joe talked to Betty and asked for her permission to talk to Matt about girls and growing up. He told Betty that his parents had given him the talk when he was eleven. Joe had all of his mother's medical books and since she had been a labor and delivery nurse, Joe knew everything there was to know about the anatomy and physiology.

Betty gave Joe permission to talk to Matt. She was actually relieved, because she thought Matt would be embarrassed if she talked to him about that subject.

That night after dinner was over, Joe took Matt into the library and over the next three hours, Joe told Matt everything that he needed to know and answered all of Matt's questions honestly, in terms that he could understand. After they had finished, Matt thanked Joe and then he went into the family room where his mother was sitting on the couch.

Betty asked Matt if he had learned anything from Joe that he did not already know. Matt replied, "I learned a lot from Joe. I learned the correct names for the body parts of boys and girls and I learned the real facts about sex." Matt was feeling a little embarrassed talking to his mother about this, but he continued. "Joe also told me that girls and women should be treated with respect at all times, and they should be treated as human beings, not as prizes or trophies. He told me to always be polite to girls, never to belch, or use swearwords or other vulgarity around them. I should open doors and give up my seat, not only for women, but also for the elderly and disabled as well. Joe told me that I should never force a girl to do something that she did not want to do and that I should not do anything that I was not ready to do. He told me not to let peer pressure cause me to do something stupid. Joe told me that there was no dishonor in being a virgin and that he was glad he still was one. He told me that sex was a special love between a man and a woman who were in love with each other and they should be married. Joe also told me that his motto in life, was 'to love, honor and cherish; not only God, but friends, family and life as well."

Then, Matt surprised his mother by doing something that he had not done for over a year. He leaned down, kissed his mother on the cheek, and said, "I love you, Mom. Thanks for everything you have done for us." Then he went to bed.

Later that night, when Betty saw Joe, she thanked him for talking to Matt. "You made quite an impression on Matt." She said. "From what Matt told me, I know his father would never have given him as meaningful of a talk as you did. I hope you stick around, as I still have four more sons and possibly one more after that," she said as she touched her belly. Joe told Betty that she had done a fine job of raising her family and her children had turned out great.

Joe and Betty found out just how serious Matt had taken Joe's talk a week later. Mary and Matt got off the school bus one afternoon and Matt ran straight to his room and closed the door. When Betty asked Mary why Matt was so upset, Mary told her and Joe what had happened at school that afternoon.

"Matt and I were waiting at the bus stop at school with a bunch of other kids, when a couple of eighth grade boys started teasing a girl from the seventh grade. Next, they knocked her books out of her arms and her books and papers went flying. Matt, who has never stood up to anybody before, told the boys to leave her alone. Then, Matt started helping the girl pick up the books and papers. Well after that, the boys started to pick on Matt too. Matt just ignored them, but when they started swearing and calling him and the girl a lot of vulgar names, Matt went right up to them and told them that if swearing made them feel tough, to go do it somewhere else. He said; 'These ladies don't want to hear it.' Matt wouldn't back down and soon, all of the girls there, started cheering Matt on, and the other boys got nervous and walked away."

Mary stopped to catch her breath and then said "Mom, I have never been more proud of Matt as I was today." "But, why did Matt run into his room and close the door?" asked Betty. "Well", began Mary, "after the boys left, a lot of the girls started telling Matt what a great guy he was for sticking up for the girl and some of them patted him on the back. Then, the girl who had been teased suddenly went up to Matt, gave him a big hug, kissed him on the cheek, called him her 'knight in shining armor', and thanked him. I have never seen Matt blush that much before. His face got bright red. I think that he's still a little embarrassed."

Betty went into Matt's room and told him how proud she was of him. "It took a lot of courage to stand up to those two bullies, Matt.", said Betty.

"Joe was right, Mom" said Matt. "Girls do deserve respect. Even if those guys had pounded me, I would do it again, because it was the right thing to do."

The next day, the word got out around the middle school about the incident at the bus stop. All of the girls were smiling at Matt and saying nice things to him, all day long.

The principal had found out what happened and had called the bullies' parents who made the boys apologize to the girl the next day. The principal told Matt that he wished more boys would be as thoughtful and caring as he was.

Matt had suddenly become very popular with the girls. Though he remained very humble and didn't let the popularity go to his head, Matt was feeling good inside.

The following Friday was Valentine's Day. Matt got valentines from every girl in his class as well as several more from other girls in the school. Mary had made him a special homemade card that said; "To the most wonderful brother a girl could ever have! I am so proud of you. Love, Mary"

That night, there was a Valentine's Day Dance at the school and Tommy, a boy in Mary's class had asked her to go with him. Mary thought he was cute and agreed to go with him. That evening, when Mary came out of her room, Matt told her how pretty she looked. Betty and Joe agreed. She was wearing the fancy dress she had gotten for Christmas and her clip-on earrings. Joe drove her to the dance and told Mary to save a dance for him.

Mary had a great time that evening. She and Tommy danced every dance and Tommy was a perfect gentleman. When Joe picked Mary up from the dance, he looked the other way as Tommy gave Mary a quick kiss goodbye.

By the time Joe and Mary got home, it was 9:30 pm. When they walked into the house, Mary turned on the radio and found a station that had some slow songs and then she told Joe, "I saved the last dance for you." Joe and Mary danced around the family room. Mary put her head on Joe's shoulder and told him that she was glad he had come into her family's life.

Chapter 10

Just as the song finished, Mary and Joe heard a scream from upstairs. They both ran upstairs. They heard another scream. It came from Betty's room. When they entered the room, Betty told them that she had gone into labor. The baby was not due for another two weeks. Joe called 911 for an ambulance. He was told that it would be at least thirty minutes before they could get someone there. Betty told Joe that the baby was coming.

Joe remembered that his mother had kept some sterile obstetrics supplies in the house, in case there was an emergency delivery in the neighborhood. Joe told Betty that he had read his mother's books and had seen films about delivering a baby and that he could help her deliver the baby, if she trusted him enough. Betty said that she did.

Betty was scared. She had given birth to six babies already and she sensed that something was wrong this time. Joe tried to calm her down and slow her breathing down.

By this time, all of the other kids were awake. Joe told Matt to wait in front of the house for the ambulance. He told Mark to take the rest of the kids downstairs to the playroom.

Mary got some warm blankets for the baby, in case it was delivered before the ambulance got there. When she returned with the blankets, she saw that the baby was coming out.

Joe helped guide the baby out. It was a girl, but she was blue and was not breathing. Joe cleared out the baby's mouth and gave her little puffs of air. After a couple of minutes, the baby began to breathe on her own and then she began to cry. Joe cut the umbilical cord and wrapped the baby in a warm blanket.

A few minutes later, Joe and Mary saw something that surprised both of them. They saw a shoulder of another baby trying to come out. Betty did not know she was carrying twins. Joe knew that the baby could not come out that way. He gently pushed the baby back in and helped guide the head out. Within a few minutes, the second baby, another girl was out and crying loudly. After cutting the cord, Joe wrapped the second baby in a blanket.

The ambulance arrived a few minutes later. The paramedic said that it took a while to get there, because there were many emergency calls and there were a few paramedics out sick with the flu.

The paramedic did not have a partner with him, so Joe insisted on riding in the back with Betty and the babies. The paramedic said it was against policy. Joe insisted that someone needed to stay with Betty and the twins and finally the paramedic agreed. Joe told Mary to watch the rest of the kids and he would call from the hospital.

Joe noticed that Betty was bleeding rather heavy. He applied abdominal pads and pressure and put ice packs to her abdomen to slow the bleeding.

Betty worked at St. Luke's Hospital, but San Francisco General Hospital was a lot closer. Betty was still bleeding heavy and had already lost quite a bit of blood. Joe was very worried.

Betty lost consciousness and Joe told the paramedic to head for San Francisco General and go as fast as he could. On his cell phone, Joe called the labor and delivery floor where his mother had worked. He was in luck. The nurse who answered the phone was Mrs. Phillips, who had been one of his mother's friends.

Joe explained the situation; that he was in the ambulance with two premature babies weighing about five pounds each, and a woman that was bleeding heavily, had already lost a lot of blood, and had lost consciousness.

When the ambulance pulled into the ambulance bay, there were three doctors and several nurses waiting for them. They put the babies into incubators and took them to the neonatal intensive care unit. Then they took Betty up to labor and delivery. Joe went with her.

When they took her into surgery, they told Joe he had to wait in the waiting room. Joe told the doctors and nurses, to do whatever they could to save her, no matter what the cost.

Joe sat in the waiting room and prayed to God to help Betty through this ordeal. The children needed her and so did Joe. Joe called Mary and told her to get the kids to sleep and to stay home from school the next day to watch John and Paul until he got home. Then, Joe called a neighbor, to look in on the kids the next morning.

After waiting three hours, a doctor came out of surgery and told Joe that Betty was going to be ok. She had lost a lot of blood and was given several units of blood. They had stopped the bleeding and she was now in recovery.

The doctor asked Joe about the delivery and Joe filled him in with what he had done and the details of the delivery. The doctor told Joe that if he had not been there, Neither Betty nor the babies would have made it.

Then, the doctor put his arm around Joe's shoulders and told him, "I worked with your mother for many years and I was so sorry when she died last year. I know she would be so proud of you and the man you have become."

It was six o'clock in the morning before Joe was allowed to see Betty. Before he went to see her, he called Mary to tell her that her mother and baby sisters were doing fine. Then Joe left a message with the school explaining that Mary would not be in school that day and asking them to give Mary's homework assignments to Matt to take home to her.

When Joe went into Betty's room, he could see that she looked exhausted. As soon as she saw Joe, she perked right up. Then Betty started to cry and said "Joe, they told me that if you hadn't been there and taken charge of the situation the way you did, that my babies and I would not have made it. I can never thank you enough."

Then she added, "Joe, if it's alright with you, I would like to name my daughters, Sarah and Rebecca, after your mother." Joe smiled and said; "Mom would be pleased. Thank you." Then Joe told Betty to get some rest and that he would be back later that afternoon with the kids, to see her and their new sisters.

After Joe left the room, Mrs. Phillips and a few of the other nurses that had known his mother, came up to him and hugged him. They told him what a great job he did. Mrs. Phillips told Joe that his mother would be very proud of him.

Joe went to the nursery and took pictures of Sarah and Rebecca and after changing into a hospital gown, he held the girls and the nurse took a few photos of him with the twins.

When Joe arrived home by taxi, Mary ran out of the house to find out how her mother and baby sisters were doing. Joe told her that all three of them were fine and showed her the photos. Mary grabbed Joe and would not let go. All of her emotions from the past several hours came out and she started crying. When Mary finally let go, she told Joe that he looked terrible. He had not slept in almost 30 hours. Joe took a shower, changed clothes and slept for four hours until the kids got home from school.

When dinner was over, Joe took the kids to see their mother and baby sisters. When Mary saw her mother, she gave her a great big hug.

After Betty had hugged the rest of her kids, Joe took them outside the room so that Mary and her mother could talk. Betty told Mary that if Joe had not been there, she and the babies would not have made it. She thanked Mary for helping at home that day. They talked for a few more minutes and then she said that she wanted to talk to Joe in private.

When they were alone, Betty said; "I had a long talk with my nurse, Ruth Phillips today and she told me some interesting things about you. She said that you inherited millions of dollars from your parents. Why didn't you ever mention it before?"

Joe replied; "Because, I want to be treated as a normal person, judged on my character, not how much money I have. Very few people know how much I am worth. When I donate money to charity, the recipients agree to keep it confidential." Betty told him not to worry. "Your secret is safe with me, Joe."

After Joe and the kids saw the babies, they went home. Joe helped them with their homework. Matt had brought home Mary's homework and Joe helped her get caught up.

Later that evening, Joe sat down with Mary and Matt and told them that their mother would need a lot of help around the house when she brought home the twins.

No one had known that Betty was carrying twins and it was a surprise to everyone. Matt and Mary both said that they would help as much as possible.

Joe had arranged to take off a week from college and work, while the babies got settled in and Betty was stronger.

After Matt had gone to bed, Joe and Mary sat up for a while longer and talked. Joe looked at Mary and saw that she was very sad. "What's wrong Mary?" he asked. "Mom told me that if you had not been here, that she and the babies would have died," said Mary. "Thank you for saving their lives. I love you for that. I don't know what I would have done if I had lost my mother."

Mary started crying and hugged Joe. Joe held her for a while, until her tears subsided and then told her that everything was fine now, and that she needed to get some well-deserved rest.

Chapter 11

Betty and the twins, Sara and Rebecca came home five days later. Joe and Mary had purchased an additional crib and other accessories for the nursery and Matt and the rest of the boys had made signs and banners for the front of the house to welcome their sisters to their new home.

Joe told Betty that he planned to put college on hold for a while until the girls were a little older. Betty told Joe that she would not allow Joe to drop out of college. "I want you to finish college and I know that your parents would want you to finish school as well. You only have a year and a half to go. I won't let you give up on your dream."

Then, Betty told Joe that while she was at San Francisco General, they had offered her a job there and after twelve weeks of maternity leave, she would begin working weekend-option. She would work from 7pm to 7am on Fridays and Saturdays and get paid for full time.

That way, Joe could finish school and be there on the weekends while she worked and Betty would be able to spend more time with the kids during the week.

Joe agreed to stay in school. If he took classes in the summer and extra classes in the fall, he could graduate in December, six months before his 19th birthday.

The house was turned upside down over the next several days until the family got set into the new routines, with two babies in the house.

The boys loved having little sisters and were very protective of them. Mary loved having more girls in a house of boys. She loved holding Sarah and Rebecca or Becca as she was now called, because Paul could not say 'Rebecca'. Mary was a big help to Betty in taking care of them.

Matt's twelfth birthday was the 2nd of March. Joe wanted to make it a special day for him, since he had helped his mom so much over the past several months and had no choice but to grow up and become the man of the house when his father left.

Joe had gotten permission from Betty to plan a birthday weekend for Matt. Betty was glad that Matt had Joe to look up to as a role model and that this was a chance for them to do some male bonding.

Matt's birthday was on a Sunday, and since there was no school on that Friday, Joe made plans for a three-day birthday weekend. Joe and Betty kept this a secret.

Joe had the van packed and woke Matt up at 3am on Friday morning. He told Matt that they were going on a trip, but would not tell him where. As Joe drove, he let Matt get some more sleep.

At about 7:30, when Matt woke up, they stopped for breakfast and then continued driving. They arrived in Los Angeles at 10:00 am.

For the rest of the day, Joe and Matt did many of Matt's favorite things. They played miniature golf, went to an arcade, and rode go-carts. For lunch, they had pizza and root beer. Joe even got candles put on the pizza.

Throughout the day, Joe took pictures with a digital camera that he had brought along. Occasionally, he found other people to take pictures of himself and Matt together. At around 3pm, they checked into a very nice hotel. After they got to their room, they changed and went swimming in the hotel pool for a while.

Later, at 5:30, they were picked up by a limousine and taken to the Staples Center Coliseum to see a basketball game. Matt was very excited because he was a big fan of the LA Lakers and he loved basketball.

Joe had connections. His lawyer knew someone in the Lakers organization who pulled a few strings. Joe and Matt were met by a team representative who escorted them to the team locker room.

Matt got to meet all of the players and got their autographs. Joe took pictures of Matt standing with the players. They presented Matt with a basketball signed by the entire team, a team jacket, and other autographed souvenirs as well.

Matt and Joe had seats right behind the Lakers' bench. During halftime, a message flashed on the scoreboard, wishing Matt a happy 12th birthday. Then, the entire coliseum sang Happy Birthday to him, which Matt thought was very cool. Matt and Joe ate hot dogs and drank soda. The game went into double overtime, with the Lakers making the winning basket with seconds left to play.

After the game, Matt and Joe picked up his basketball, jacket and other souvenirs and rode in the limo back to their hotel. It was almost 11pm by the time they got there, but Matt was too excited to sleep. He and Joe stayed up until after 1am talking. They slept in until 10 a.m. and had breakfast delivered to their room.

Matt thought that his birthday surprise was over, but Joe told him that there was still more to come. They checked out of the hotel and then drove for a few hours, stopping only for lunch. Then, after driving for another 2 hours, they arrived at their final destination.

It was a secluded cabin near a lake located about an hour from San Francisco. Joe's parents had bought the land when Joe was a small child and built a large cabin on the land. Joe and his parents used to go there 2-3 times per year.

Joe had not been to the cabin since his parents died. Matt helped Joe carry all of their gear into the cabin. Joe started a fire in the fireplace and then, from the cooler, Joe took out a couple of steaks and started cooking them in a skillet on the stove.

One thing that Joe liked about the cabin was that there was no television, no radio and no phones. After they ate dinner, they walked around the lake and when they got back to the cabin, they lay on the ground and looked at all of the thousands of stars in the sky.

Matt had never seen the sky so clear. Joe pointed out the major constellations and they just listened to the night sounds; the wind blowing through the trees, the fish jumping in the lake, the crickets singing and the owls hooting. Matt had never felt so peaceful before. By 10pm, they were sound asleep in the cabin.

At 4am, on Sunday morning, Matt's birthday, they got up, and headed to the lake to go fishing. After three hours, Matt had caught five good-sized trout and Joe had caught six. When they got back to the cabin, Joe taught Matt how to clean and filet the fish. Joe cooked some of them over an open fire he had built outside the cabin. Matt was never a big fish eater, but those were the best tasting fish he had ever eaten. They wrapped the rest of the fish and put them on ice to take home with them.

After breakfast, since the weather was unusually warm for that time of year, Matt and Joe went for a swim in the lake.

While they were swimming, a few deer came up to the edge of the lake to drink. Matt and Joe stayed perfectly still. Matt had never seen wildlife this close before and was mesmerized by the deer.

Around 3pm, they loaded up the van, locked up the cabin and headed for home.

While they were driving, Matt was very quiet for a long time. Then, all of a sudden, he said; "Joe, this has been the best weekend of my life. Thank you for making my birthday so terrific."

When Joe asked him what his favorite part was, Matt replied; "The part I liked the best, was spending time with you. You make me feel important, like I am somebody special. You are like a father, big brother and best friend all rolled into one."

When they arrived home, Joe let Matt go in first. When he walked into the house, everybody yelled surprise. The house was filled with balloons and there were decorations everywhere.

The house was filled with people. There were over fifty kids from his school, boys and girls. All of Matt's favorite foods were there including homemade macaroni and cheese, pizza and chocolate cheesecake. Matt had a great time at the party.

He danced with all of the girls including his sister Mary. After he had opened his presents and thanked everyone, the guests went home.

When everyone had gone home, Mary brought out the present from the family. It was a brand new ten speed bike. Matt was ecstatic. His old bike was too small for him. He had been saving up for a new bike.

Joe hooked his digital camera up to the computer and everyone watched a slideshow of Matt's weekend. Later, Joe had them printed up and put them into a photo album for Matt.

That night, when the rest of the family was in bed, Matt went into the family room where Joe and Betty were talking. Matt stood there silently and then trying not to cry, he said, "I want to thank you both for making this the best birthday I have ever had. I love you both very much." Then, he hugged both of them and went to bed.

Chapter 12

In early March, Joe's lawyer told him that 'Francisco's; one of the best restaurants in San Francisco was for sale and that it would be a good investment for Joe. Joe agreed and signed the papers to purchase it.

Joe told the manager that he could stay on as manager and the staff could stay while he had a chance to evaluate the operation. He asked the manager to keep his name out of the press and only the manager and his lawyer would know that Joe owned the restaurant. The manager agreed and signed an agreement and it was finalized.

When Sarah and Becca were one month old, it was time to have them baptized. Betty asked Joe if he would be their Godfather. Joe said he would be honored. Pastor Jacobs approved it. On the Sunday morning of the baptism, Betty and all of her eight children were dressed in their best clothes. Joe took some photos of the family at the house before they went to the church.

As Joe stood in the church holding one baby in each arm, with Betty and her children all around him, he truly felt like part of the family, like he belonged.

The weeks passed quickly, and soon they were back in the church for Mary's confirmation. Mary looked beautiful in her new white dress with lace trim. Mary was filled with the Holy Spirit as she stood at the front of the church and was confirmed.  
Two weeks later, Mary graduated from middle school. She had the fourth highest grade point average in her class. Mary had studied even harder during the last couple of months.

With school out for the summer, Joe had more time to spend with the kids. Mark and Luke were playing little league and Joe was their assistant coach. Joe and Betty encouraged Mary and Matt to get part time jobs during the summer. Matt started doing yard work for the neighbors and Mary got some babysitting jobs. Joe was taking some college courses during the summer, so that he could graduate in December.

Mary's birthday was June 20th and Betty had been planning special day for her. When Mary woke up on June 20th, she told her mother that she did not want to do anything that day. "Just forget it's my birthday, ok?" said Mary.

Joe had heard them talking and asked Betty why Mary was so upset. Betty told Joe that Mary's father had left on Mary's 13th birthday, just one year ago, and it had ruined Mary's celebration.

Joe could understand how that could make her so sad. He was not feeling so hot himself, as June 20th revived bad memories for him as well.

Joe told Betty that he knew how to cheer up Mary. He told Mary that he wanted to take her to a fancy restaurant that night. It would be just the two of them.

At first, Mary did not want to go, but after a little coaxing, she finally agreed. Joe told her to be ready at 5pm that evening.

Joe told Betty that he had to see to some personal business that afternoon, but that he would be back in time to take Mary to dinner.

At 4pm, Joe returned home looking very upset and Betty thought that he had been crying. When Joe saw Mary, he forced a smile and went to get ready for their dinner.

Joe told Mary that he was taking her to one of the fanciest restaurants in San Francisco. It was the restaurant that Joe had bought and this was one way to see how the restaurant was being run.

Mary was wearing a very nice dress and Joe wore a suit. On the way to the restaurant, Joe tried to get Mary to open up by engaging in small talk, but Mary was not in a talking mood.

When Joe and Mary walked into 'Francisco's, Mary seemed to perk up a little bit. The place had a wonderful atmosphere and was very elegantly decorated. They ordered iced tea and appetizers.

Once again, Joe engaged in small talk to try to get Mary to say something, but she just stared into her plate. Finally, Joe got right to the point. "Mary, your mom told that your dad left on your thirteenth birthday. I understand how you must feel," he said.

Mary got a little angry and said; "You don't know how I feel, Joe. At thirteen, I was supposed to be starting my teenage years and do you know what my present was? My present was that my dad left us and took all of our money out of the bank and left us with a pile of bills that we could not pay. My birthday present was that we lost our house, because he had not paid the mortgage for three months before he left. How could you possibly know how I feel?" Mary was very angry now. She felt like walking out of the restaurant.

Joe sat there quietly for a moment, and then he took out his wallet, handed Mary his driver's license, and told her to look at his birth date. Mary saw that he was also born on June 20th. Then Joe handed her a well-worn newspaper clipping. Mary read the article. It told of the automobile accident in which Joe's mother and father were killed. Mary saw that they were killed on June 20th, on Joe's 17th birthday.

Mary suddenly started to feel very bad. Mary looked at Joe and said; "I am so sorry, Joe. Can you ever forgive me for being angry with you?"

"There's nothing to forgive," said Joe. "You have a right to be angry. You are still hurting and you needed to get your anger out of your system, so that your heart can start to heal."

Joe took a drink and then continued; "When I was first told that my parents had been killed in that car accident, I was numb for quite a while. For days after the funeral, I could not bring myself to think about it. I thought that if I pushed it out of my mind, that it did not really happen. I was almost like a zombie. About a week after the funeral, I just fell apart. I did not think that I could go on living without them. Pastor Jacobs helped me through those next few weeks. It was very difficult for me to cope with their loss.

I put up a wall around myself and would not let anyone in. I did not want to get too close to anyone. I figured that if I did not get close to anyone, then I could not get hurt again.

Then, about seven months ago, I saw you and your brother standing out in the rain shivering and I dropped the wall and let you in to my life. When I heard about your father leaving you, I could relate to you because I knew what it was like to lose someone close. The more I got to know you and your family, the more willing I was to let you into my heart.

I allowed myself to get close to someone again. It was as if God was telling me 'Joe, you have so much to give. Get on with your life.' I consider all of you my family now."

Mary had tears in her eyes as Joe talked. "This afternoon, I went to my parents' graves. On the way there, I did not know what I would say to them. At first, I was angry with them for leaving me and I yelled at them. Then, I told them how much I loved them and how much I missed them. Then I told them that it was time for me to let go of all my bad memories and sad feelings, so that I could go on with my new life. I told them that I would never forget them, but that I had a new family whom I loved and who loved me. Then, I sat down and cried for over an hour. All my anger and hurting melted away. I forgave them for leaving and I started a clean slate."

By now, Mary was softly crying and Joe pulled out a handkerchief and handed it to her. Joe took Mary's hand and said; "Let's make a pact, that from this day forward, June 20th will be a celebration of life, and our friendship, and that we will always celebrate it together each year. Ok?"

Mary wiped away her tears and agreed. Joe kissed her on the cheek and wished her Happy Birthday. For the rest of the meal, they were both smiling and laughing and for desert they shared a chocolate cake that was just the right size for two people.

There was one candle in the center of the cake and they both made a wish and blew out the candle at the same time, both hoping that their wish would someday come true.

While they were sitting there, a waiter brought over a long box and handed it to Mary. Mary opened it and found 14 long stemmed roses, and a card that said 'Happy 14th Birthday to the most beautiful girl in the restaurant.' The card was signed 'Friends always, Joe'.

Mary had a big smile on her face and gave Joe a big hug. She told him that she loved the roses. Then Joe pulled a small box out of his pocket and gave it to her. When Mary opened the box, she saw an antique locket.

Joe told her that it had belonged to his mother and grandmother and that he wanted her to have it. "Your mother said it was ok to give it to you" said Joe. Mary loved the locket and hugged Joe again. "This place needs a dance floor and music" said Mary. "I'll suggest it to the management," said Joe.

When they arrived home, Joe went to the basement to check on something and Mary went to show her mother the flowers and locket that Joe had given her. Betty saw that Mary's face was glowing with happiness, something that she had not seen in over a year, since her father had left.

Mary apologized to her mom for being in such a bad mood and for not letting her mom plan the day for her. Then Mary told her mom about Joe; "Mom, did you know that Joe's birthday is today also, and that his parents were killed on his 17th birthday?" Now, Betty knew why Joe had been crying that afternoon. Mary told her mom about the evening and let her mom know that she was going to be fine.

They both heard music coming from the basement and Joe yelled upstairs; "Mary, Are you ready for that dance now?" Mary went downstairs and she and Joe danced for over an hour. Afterward they sat on the couch, listening to music and talking for another hour.

After Mary went to bed, Betty asked Joe if they could talk for a minute. She asked Joe if he was doing ok. Joe replied that he was fine then Betty said; "Joe, I know that you miss your parents, and I know that I am not your mother, but if you ever need someone to talk to, I am here, and I am a good listener." Joe thanked her and said that he would remember that.

In July, Both Betty and Joe took a week off work, and the family went to Disneyland. Joe and Matt went on all of the roller coasters and they even talked Mary into going on one of them. Mary was so terrified, that she refused to go on anymore of them. Everybody had a blast and nobody wanted to leave when it was time to go home.

As the summer ended, Mary was getting nervous about starting high school in the fall. Her mother tried to reassure her that it would turn out fine and she would adjust quickly.

Matt was looking forward to starting 7th grade, because he planned to join the basketball team. Mark was going into the 4th grade, Luke was going into 2nd grade and John was starting kindergarten. Paul would be going to pre-school 3 days per week. As for Joe, he only had one semester of college left.

Chapter 13

Betty and Joe took the family to get new clothes and shoes for school. Mary decided it was time to get her ears pierced. It was not as bad as she had imagined. Joe got her diamond clip-on earrings remounted as pierced earrings.

On the first day of school, everybody was a little nervous, except for Mary, who was a lot nervous.

When they got home from school that afternoon, Mary ran into the house all excited. There was a tennis team at school and she signed up. It met after school and there was a late bus that she could ride home after practice. She also joined the swimming team, which had practice before school. She joined the high school choir as well. She had been asking to take piano lessons on the weekends.

Betty thought that she was taking on too much all at once, but she loved seeing Mary so eager to get involved at school. She told Mary that she could do all of the activities as long as she kept her grades up.

Matt had a great day as well. He made the basketball team and he was already getting girls' phone numbers. He also joined the 7th grade choir. Joe was teaching him to play the guitar as well.

Mark wanted to play on the after school peewee football team. Betty was not too keen on the idea, but she gave her permission. Mark was not yet interested in girls yet, but they were interested in him. "They keep making goofy faces at me and giggling when I walk by" he said with a sigh of disgust. Joe told Mark that he would feel different about them in a few years.

Mary told her mother that the guys were a lot cuter in high school than they were in 8th grade and many boys said hi to her in the hallway at school.

Joe and Betty both volunteered at the schools when they could. They also helped with homework, and gave advice as needed. Joe was helping the kids master the computer and soon, all of them were very skilled at it. He and Betty monitored their use of it and limited their time on the computer when not used for schoolwork.

When the new school year started, the church was looking for a new Sunday school teacher for the second grade and Joe agreed to teach the class. He made the classes interesting and fun. Luke told Joe that he was better than his teacher was at the elementary school. The church was also starting a youth choir and Mary, Matt, Mark and Luke all joined it. Joe also 'got volunteered' to be in charge of the Christmas pageant.

At the beginning of October, Mary and Matt asked if they could have a Halloween party at their house. Joe and Betty talked it over and they agreed to the idea. Betty would take Mark, Luke, John and Paul Trick-or-Treating and Joe would supervise the party. Joe let Mary and Matt plan the party and he offered suggestions. Matt and Mary were each allowed to invite 25 guests. They both invited a mix of boys and girls.

The night of the party finally arrived. Matt was dressed as Robin Hood and Mary was dressed as Cinderella. Joe dressed as a pirate. The party was a huge success. Joe, Mary and Matt had prepared the snacks themselves. The food looked gross, but was delicious. Matt's guests were 7th and 8th graders and Mary's guests were 9th and 10th graders.

Joe noticed some guys flirting with Mary and it made him a little uneasy. He had to admit to himself, that Mary was very pretty and mature for her age. Matt was surrounded by girls all night. They would dare each other to run up to Matt and kiss him. Matt did not seem to mind. In fact, he was enjoying it.

The party ended at eleven pm and after the last guest had been picked up by their parents, Matt, Mary and Joe cleaned up the mess. Matt and Joe both agreed that it had been a terrific party and thanked Joe for helping them.

Chapter 14

On the third of November, Joe took Mary and Matt out to lunch. He took them to Jack's Diner where he had first met them one year earlier. While they were eating, Joe asked them if they would like to help people in the community for Thanksgiving.

Joe told them that he had volunteered to help cook and serve Thanksgiving dinner at a shelter for abused women and children. Joe told them that their mother had given permission for them to join him if they wanted to help.

Both of them agreed to help. After they finished cleaning up, they would go home to their own Thanksgiving dinner, which their mother would cook with help from Mark, Luke and John.

On the morning of Thanksgiving Day, Joe, Matt and Mary arrived at 6 o'clock to start cooking. There were several other volunteers there as well. The shelter was home for abused women and children, but it also took in homeless women and children as well. The shelter was at full capacity. They would be serving over 250 women and children.

Mary and Matt had never worked so hard in their lives. It was hot in the kitchen and they stayed busy all morning.

When the food was ready, they started setting up the tables and chairs. At 11 o'clock am, they opened up the doors to the dining room and started serving dinner. Matt and Mary were tired from working for five hours in the kitchen, but they suddenly got more energy, when they saw all of the children and women coming in for a free meal. As they served the people, they forgot their fatigue and realized that all of their hard work had been worth it.

Everybody that Matt and Mary served food to, said thank you and had a big smile on their faces. Matt was serving the pumpkin pie, Mary was serving the mashed potatoes and Joe was serving the salad.

As Matt was serving pie to a four year old girl, the girl put down her plate, went up to Matt and gave him a great big hug and said "Happy Thanksgiving Mister". Matt's eyes lit up and he had a great big grin on his face as he hugged her and said "Happy Thanksgiving to you too".

After everyone had been served, and the food was gone, all of the volunteers pitched in to clean up the kitchen and the dining room. It was 4:30 pm when they finished and headed home to their families.

When Joe, Matt and Mary walked into their house, they could smell turkey and pumpkin pie. Betty and the younger kids were putting the food on the table.

As everyone stood around the table, they held hands while Joe said a blessing. When he was finished, Matt asked if he could add something. He said "Dear God, Thank you for giving us enough to eat, and a house to live in. Please look after those less fortunate people who do not have enough to eat, or a place to live, especially the children of the world." Matt paused and then he added; "And God, wherever my father is today, please bless him and take care of him and help him overcome his problems. Amen"

As everyone started eating, Matt and Mary talked about how good it felt to cook for and to serve those people at the shelter.

Mary asked her mom and Joe if they could do something like that for Christmas. Joe and Betty thought it was a great idea, but since Christmas was only four weeks away, they would have to organize it quickly.

All of the kids discussed it and they decided to collect money and donations of toys and clothing from businesses and individual donors and give the clothing and toys to as many children in the San Francisco area as they could.

John came up with the name for the project. He said it should be called "Kids Caring for Kids". Over the next few days, Joe, Matt, Mary and Betty drafted up a letter, which they sent to all of the businesses, churches and schools in San Francisco explaining what they were trying to do, and asking for donations of new clothes, toys, and monetary donations. They explained that the donations were needed within three weeks, so that they could have gifts purchased and wrapped in time for Christmas.

They printed over 3000 copies of the letter and started addressing them to every business, church and school listed in the phone book. They also composed a letter asking for the names and ages and sizes of needy children from the San Francisco area, and mailed the letters to every church, school, and public service agency in the city.

Joe set up a website called 'kidscaringforkids.com' and explained what they were trying to accomplish. Joe explained that the idea came from two kids who were trying to make a difference in San Francisco. Joe stated that every donor would be listed on the website unless they chose to remain anonymous. The website also listed the address to send the donations to.

SaraCom was one of the first companies to send in a donation. It donated $25,000. Of course, only Betty knew that Joe was the owner and CEO of SaraCom. Francisco's Restaurant also donated $10,000.

Within a week, donations were pouring in from all over the city. Joe's lawyer; Benjamin Isaacson contacted Mary and Matt and offered his legal services free of charge to Kids Caring for Kids.

When the project got too big for just Mary and Matt to handle, they enlisted other kids from their schools and from their church. They also had a few adults volunteer to help them as well. As the lists of needy children started coming in, they started matching up names with gifts and clothing. The toy and clothing stores that did not donate merchandise; offered huge discounts for KCK, to purchase the toys and clothing. By December 20th, they had received over $500,000 in donations and at least that much in donations of toys and clothing.

The church had volunteered their building to sort, wrap and match up the presents. There were over 100 teenagers shopping, wrapping, and delivering the presents to the schools, churches, and shelters. Each child got at least one toy, and at least one suit of clothes. Some kids got coats and shoes as well.

When everything was finished, they had clothes and toys for over 5,000 needy children in the San Francisco area. When Matt and Mary were asked to be interviewed for newspaper articles, they agreed to it, but only if their names were not mentioned. If photos were taken, it had to be of the whole group of volunteers who helped with the project. Matt and Mary wanted the focus to be on the needy children, and the homeless, and not on themselves. In return for the interviews, they insisted that the newspapers list all the businesses who donated to their cause.

When the article came out in the newspaper, their website started receiving letters from many people commending them for their work and charity, as well as from the families of the children they had helped.

They received letters from the mayor of San Francisco, the governor of California as well as ones from CEOs of Fortune 500 companies in the San Francisco area, pledging money for the next year's KCK campaign. None of the letters, however, made Mary and Matt feel as good as the warm feeling they had deep inside, from helping those in need.

Even with this project, Mary and Matt still had time for studying, sports, and choir practice at church. They found the time to help Joe and their family cut down a Christmas tree and decorate the house for the holidays.

The rest of their brothers were rehearsing for their parts in the Christmas pageant, as well as practicing for the Children's choir, which would perform on Christmas Eve.

Joe was busy directing the pageant, and working with KCK. He also was taking his final exams. He went to the College Registrar's office, to pick up his college diploma without any fanfare, which was the way he wanted it.

Christmas Eve arrived, and that afternoon, the church was packed for the Christmas pageant. The children did a terrific job and they received a standing ovation when it was over.

That evening, during the Christmas Eve service, the children's choir sang so beautifully, that the congregation was speechless.

On Christmas morning, while the younger children opened their presents, Matt and Mary were still basking in the success of their project. They knew that over needy 5000 children would be having presents to open up that morning. Joe and Betty both told them how proud they were of them.

Over Christmas break, Joe converted his workshop in the garage into a wood shop, bought power tools, and started teaching Matt, Mary, Luke and Mark how to make furniture. After he had taught them to be safe, and not to use any tools when he was not in the wood shop, they began working on their first family project.

As Betty watched her daughter and sons working alongside of Joe making a coffee table, she was amazed at how well they worked together without fighting. In just a year since moving into Joe's house, the kids had developed good manners, were doing outstanding in school, and were taking music lessons.

Mary and Mark were taking piano lessons, Matt was learning to play the guitar and Luke had just started taking saxophone lessons. The children were active in church choir, as well as their school choirs. Mark and Luke were in the Boy Scouts, and Matt had joined the newspaper staff at school.

Mary was playing tennis and was swimming, and Matt was playing basketball and was on the track team.

At home, the kids occasionally argued, and got into fights, but at school, they looked out for each other. They would not let anyone push around their siblings.

Mary was boy crazy, and Matt was girl crazy and both of them were very popular at school. Betty was very proud of her children and very proud of Joe for all he had done for her family.

Chapter 15

In January, after the kids were back in school, Joe started spending more time at SaraCom. He was also taking a couple of classes as he was working towards his Masters degree. He was a regular visitor to the university library, as it was one of the best in the state.

One afternoon, in early January, Joe was checking out some magazines when a young lady dropped a pile of books. Joe helped her pick them up. As she thanked Joe, she introduced herself. Her name was Anna Michaels. Joe and Anna started talking, and before they knew it, two hours had passed. Joe and Anna had a lot in common. Both of them were interested in music, computers and history. Anna was a freshman at the university studying pre-law. They were strongly attracted to each other. They made a date to have lunch the next day.

When Joe returned home from the library, Betty and Mary noticed that he was in a very good mood, almost glowing. When they asked him why he was so happy, Joe told them that he had met a woman at the library and they had really hit it off. He told them that they were having lunch the next day.

Betty was very happy for Joe, but Mary did not say anything. She excused herself to go do her homework.

Mary was upset that Joe was interested in a woman from the college. She was a little jealous. She tried to convince herself that she was just being protective of Joe, but she realized the truth was that she had a big crush on Joe. She knew he was too old for her, as he was 18 and she was 14, but she cared about him. Of course, she would not dream of telling Joe of her true feelings. That would be too embarrassing for her. She wrote all of her thoughts and feelings in her diary. She felt a little better when she realized that she and Joe were very close friends.

Over the next several months, Joe saw a lot of Anna. Their dates took place on the nights when Betty was home with the kids. Joe spent time with his family on the weekends.

Joe made sure that he still had plenty of time to help the kids with homework, Boy Scouts, and sporting events. He was now helping to coach little league and soccer teams that the kids were on. He still taught Sunday school and the boys were becoming more confident in the woodworking shop. They had helped Joe make a coffee table and a set of end tables.

As the weather started to get warmer, Matt began making birdhouses to sell to neighbors to earn some spending money. He wanted to be able to take a girl to lunch, or to a movie. He was becoming very popular with the girls at school as well as with their parents.

The girls' parents were very impressed with Matt's manners. Matt always opened doors for their daughters, held chairs for them at the dinner table and was always a gentleman. He addressed adults as sir and ma'am when talking to them and had the best table manners of any kid his age.

Mary had gone to a few school dances with boys from school, but she was not too serious about any particular one. Joe and Betty had given her the confidence to say no to any boy who got rough or tried to take their date too far.

Mary had turned into a very beautiful young lady and she had many guys chasing after her. Every time that she went to a dance or a movie with a guy from school, Joe always worried about her. He never thought any of them were good enough for her and always found something wrong with each of them. If he mentioned his opinion to Mary, she just ignored him.

Joe was falling in love with Anna and she seemed to feel the same way towards him. They went dancing, to concerts, and to dinner. Joe had invited her to the house to meet his adopted family and everybody greeted her warmly except Mary, who was cordial, but secretly she thought that Anna was wrong for Joe.

By the end of May, Anna invited Joe to her home to meet her parents. They lived in Beverly Hills. Joe and Anna drove to see them on the first weekend in June. Joe thought that the visit went really well. He liked Anna's parents and he thought that they liked him.

Joe told them that he worked with computers. He did not mention that he owned the company, and he had not mentioned it to Anna either. He wanted their relationship to develop from love. He also had not told Anna that he was worth Millions.

Anna's parents were very wealthy, and it showed everywhere, from the live-in maid, to the mansion that they lived in, to the way they dressed and to their circle of friends. Anna had told Joe that her parents were worth about twenty million dollars. Joe was worth ten times as much, but he kept it to himself and tried to live as normal a life as he could. He donated to several charities, but his donations were kept out of the public eye.

About a week after they returned to San Francisco, Anna started coming up with excuses not to see Joe as often. When he called her to ask if everything was ok, she said that they were going too fast and that maybe they should slow down a bit. Joe had a feeling that she was not being completely honest with him.

On June 19th, Joe went to see Anna and confronted her. He told her that he wanted to know the real reason she did not want to see him. Finally, after making up excuses, Anna blurted out that her parents did not think that Joe was good enough for her. They told Anna that if she stopped seeing Joe, they would give her one million dollars when she graduated, but that if she kept seeing Joe, she would get nothing.

Joe told Anna that they would be okay without the money and that their love had no monetary value. However, Joe could see in Anna's face, that it did and that money was worth more to her than love. Joe felt empty inside and he knew it was over.

Joe kissed Anna goodbye for the last time and said, "I hope that the money will bring you the happiness that you are looking for."

That evening, when Joe returned home, he was feeling very depressed. Betty saw that something was wrong, but she decided not to ask Joe to talk about it. She would wait until later, when Joe was ready to talk.

The next morning at breakfast, as they were eating breakfast alone, Mary asked Joe where they were going to go to celebrate their birthdays that evening. Joe was silent for a moment. He had forgotten that it was his and Mary's birthdays.

"Can we celebrate another time?" he asked Mary. Before he could offer any explanation, Mary got angry.

"Are you and Anna going out tonight?" she asked. " We are supposed to spend our birthday together. Can't you see her another night?"

Mary stopped talking when she saw that Joe's eyes were tearing up. Joe looked at Mary and said "Anna broke up with me last night. Apparently, her parents' money is worth more to her than I am." Mary could see that Joe was trying hard not to cry, as he told her what had happened the night before.

Mary suddenly felt so ashamed at the way she had yelled at Joe. She looked at Joe and said "I'm so sorry, Joe. I 'm sorry for the way I talked to you and I'm sorry that Anna broke up with you." Mary ran over to Joe and gave him a big hug. Joe could not hold back the tears anymore. He started crying and that made Mary start crying as well.

The two of them kept holding each other for a long time, until they were all cried out. No words were spoken between the two of them, but they each felt something, as if their souls connected in some way and they could read each other's thoughts.

Mary could feel how much Joe was hurting, and she knew that his heart was broken, and Joe could feel how deeply Mary cared for him.

Joe felt bad about canceling their birthday celebration, so he told Mary that they would go out and celebrate their big day. "Maybe, it will take my mind off of Anna," said Joe.  
"I know just the thing to cheer you up.," said Mary.

So, that night, Joe and Mary went to the theater to see the latest comedy film. It had them laughing so hard, that Joe forgot how sad he had been. After the movie, they went out for pizza and then to a quiet diner to have birthday cake and iced tea.

It was almost midnight by the time they returned home. To cap off a perfect evening, they listened to music in the rec room and talked for over two hours. Joe tried to make each of the kids' birthdays special for them, but he always made Mary's birthday extra-special. Joe was now 19 and Mary was 15.

Chapter 16

Throughout the summer, Matt did yard work to earn extra money, and Mary continued babysitting. Betty was teaching Mary to knit, and at Joe's suggestion, she also taught Joe and the boys. Joe worked with Mary and the boys in the woodshop, always stressing safety. Both Joe and Betty were teaching all of the older children how to cook, and all of them had regular chores to do each day.

The family took two to three day trips around California during the summer. Some of the trips were camping trips, as the kids loved to camp, hike and fish. They also enjoyed toasting hot dogs and marshmallows over the campfire. They all agreed that Joe told the best ghost stories.

In July, Joe took Matt, Mark, Luke, John and Paul on a weekend camping trip. Betty had the weekend off and she, Mary and the twins were having a 'girls-only' weekend.

Joe and the boys were hiking up a mountain, when Paul stepped in a hole, fell and fractured his leg.

They were about three miles from their van, and when Joe tried to call for help, he could not get a signal on his cell phone. Joe found some tree branches, and with some bandages from their first-aid kit, Joe splinted Paul's leg.

Paul was almost four years old and he was very frightened. His leg hurt a lot and he was crying. Joe talked calmly to him and the rest of the boys. Then, they started the slow descent down the mountain. Joe carried Paul and Matt led the others down. Paul held onto Joe's neck very tightly and would not let go of him.

An hour and a half later, they reached the car. Joe called Betty and told her what happened. He told her to meet them at the emergency room.

Joe fastened Paul into his car seat, carefully propped up his leg, and as soon as the rest of the boys were buckled in, he started driving to the hospital. Paul fell asleep on the way there. Joe tried to make the ride as smooth as possible.

Just as they arrived at the hospital, Paul woke up and started crying once more. Joe carried him in to the emergency room, where Betty was waiting for them. Betty tried to take Paul from Joe, but Paul would not let go of him. Paul insisted that Joe stay with him every minute, in the ER, x-ray room and in the cast room.

When they finally arrived home, Joe carried Paul into the family room and placed him gently on the couch. Paul liked all of the attention that he was getting from his sister and brothers and his mom, but he got very upset if Joe was away from him for too long.

Later, Betty told Joe that Paul never really knew his father and that Joe was the closest thing to a father that Paul had. Joe told Betty that he loved Paul like a brother and would always be around for him and the rest of the family.

Over the past year and a half, Joe had noticed a close bond forming between Betty's children and himself. The twins; Sarah and Becca were now 1 ½ years old and they had known Joe from the minute he delivered them. Joe was the only adult male figure that they knew.

Joe now considered the Rogers family to be his family. He still missed his parents, but now, he felt like he belonged somewhere.

July passed quickly and so did August. Soon, it was time for school to start up again. Mary was now a sophomore, Matt was in the 8th grade, Mark was in the 5th grade, Luke in the 3rd grade and John was in 1st grade. Paul started going to pre-school 3 days per week after his cast came off his leg.

Mary was on the swim team and the tennis team, and was in choir again. Matt was on the middle school basketball team and was editor of the school newspaper. He also sang in the choir.

Chapter 17

In October, two situations arose which would change the lives of two of Betty's sons. The first of these concerned Luke. Luke's teacher sent a note home with Luke one afternoon, saying that Luke was having trouble following written instructions on his assignments.

The school nurse had tested his eyesight and it was normal. After Betty read the note, she got one of Luke's schoolbooks and asked him to start reading from it.

As Luke read aloud, Betty noticed that he was getting words mixed up and the letters in the words as well. Betty suspected that Luke might have Dyslexia. She took him to a specialist and that was in fact the diagnosis. The specialist gave Betty some information, explaining how she could help him deal with his dyslexia. The school was notified of the diagnosis, and Betty, Joe and Luke's older siblings started helping him with his reading.

Luke would have Dyslexia his entire life, but he would learn to live with it and to manage it quite effectively.

The second situation involved Matt. Matt was one of the best players on the 8th grade basketball team at school. He was also one of the tallest. There was a school policy that stated; 'anyone caught using alcohol or drugs was immediately dropped from any sports team that they were connected with'.

One afternoon, after practice, four of the players were drinking beer in the locker room. Coach Adams walked in and caught them red-handed. He knew that he should remove them from the team, but they were four of his best players. More importantly, one of them was the son of a school board member and another was his own son; Daniel.

He knew that he had to punish them for drinking, but if he mentioned to the principal that he had caught them, the school would remove them from the team.

Matt was in the restroom, which was connected to the locker room and he overheard the entire conversation between the coach and the four players. The coach told the players that he would decide their punishment and let them know what it would be, at practice, the next day.

On the following day, at practice, Coach Adams told the team that he had found some empty beer cans in the locker room and that since he didn't know who had been drinking, that he had no choice, but to suspend the entire team for two games. The team was undefeated at the time and the two suspended games would be counted as losses.

Several of the players started to argue, but the coach said that Principal Andrews had agreed with him and their decision was final.

Matt was especially angry. He knew the truth about what had happened. He realized that if he told the principal the names of the players who had been drinking, they would be kicked off the team. He did not want to be a snitch and furthermore, he doubted that the principal would take his word over that of a teacher.

Since Matt was the editor of the school paper, he decided to write an editorial to express his views, protesting how unreasonable it was to suspend the entire team because of a few teammates breaking the rules.

The principal had to approve all of the stories before the paper was published. Principal Andrews told Matt that he could not allow Matt's editorial to be printed in the paper. Matt was angry, but he did not say anything.

On that Friday evening, Matt, who was still upset about the whole incident, decided to retaliate. He snuck out of the house with two dozen eggs, took them to the school, and hurled them at the windows of the school gymnasium.

The next morning, when Betty asked what happened to the eggs, Matt lied and said he had dropped them and they had all broken, so he threw them out and cleaned up the mess.

On Monday morning, the students were informed of the vandalism to the school. Principal Andrews told them that since he had no way of knowing who did it, that he had no choice but to take $300 out of the student activity fund to pay for cost of having the mess cleaned up.

All day long, Matt heard talk throughout the school about the vandalism and how upset the students were. That night, Matt's conscience was bothering him and he told Joe what he had done. "I really feel terrible, Joe. What should I do?"

Joe told him that part of growing up, was taking responsibility for one's actions, and being prepared to take the consequences. Joe told Matt that he would have to do what he thought was right, but that he had to tell his mother what he had done.

Matt told his mother everything, including what Joe had told him. His mother agreed with Joe's advice and told Matt to do what he thought was right. That night, Matt could not fall asleep. He tossed and turned and when he did finally fall asleep, he had an awful nightmare. As soon as he woke up, Matt knew what he had to do.

When he got to school, Matt informed Principal Andrews that he was the individual who had tossed the eggs at the windows. Matt then wrote a letter of apology to the students and handed it to the principal. The principal approved the letter and agreed to have it distributed to all of the students. Mr. Andrews told Matt that he would let him know what his punishment would be, by the end of the day.

By mid morning, all of the students had received a copy of Matt's Letter. This is what they read:

"My fellow students; this morning, I confessed to Mr. Andrews that I was the one who threw the eggs at the school.

I was angry because the entire basketball team was suspended for two games because of the actions of a few players. That, however, is no justification for my behavior.  
As an 8th grader and the editor of the school newspaper, I knew better, but I acted without considering the ramifications of my exploit.

I want to apologize to all of the students and the teachers in the school, not only for the damage I caused, but more importantly, for taking away your feelings of safety and security you feel when you are in this school. The students should feel secure when they come to school.

I will pay for the damages, so the money will not come out of the student funds and I will await my punishment from Mr. Andrews.

If my fellow students believe I should be removed as editor of the newspaper, then I will resign. I will leave that decision up to you." The letter was signed, "Matt Rogers"

During the rest of the day, Matt got the silent treatment from more than a few students and some had some angry words for Matt. However, the majority of the students accepted his apology and said that he should remain the editor of the newspaper.

That afternoon, after school was over, Matt met with Mr. Andrews to receive his punishment. Mr. Andrews informed him that after discussion with Coach Adams, the two of them had agreed that Matt should receive a two-week suspension, which would begin immediately.

Matt was very upset. "I don't think that is a reasonable punishment, sir," he said. "I will pay for the damages and I will wash the school windows after school, but it is far too extreme of a punishment, to suspend me for two weeks."

Mr. Andrews told him that the decision had been made and it was final, and that he would be calling Matt's mother that afternoon.

When Matt got home, he told his mom and Joe what had happened at school and about the two-week suspension. He told them that the punishment was unfair.

When his mom asked him what he planned to do about it, Matt looked puzzled. He wanted his mom or Joe to go to the school and talk with the principal. His mom told him that he had to handle it himself, as he was the one who did the damage. "You got yourself into this predicament, you will have to find a way to rectify the situation" said Betty.

Matt thought it over and decided that he would plead his case before the school board. He called the school board president and asked for an opportunity to address the school board at their upcoming meeting, which was two days away.

The president of the school board granted his request to speak at the meeting. Next, Matt got on the computer and e-mailed a letter to the editor of the San Francisco Tribune.

In the letter, he explained what he had done and why he had done it. He again apologized to the students and parents of the school district. He wrote that the punishment did not fit the crime and that the team suspension had been unfair in the first place.

The next morning, Matt checked the newspaper, but his letter to the editor, was not there.

That afternoon, one of his teammates called him and said that over ¾ of the students had signed a petition protesting Matt's suspension. The team would bring it to the school board meeting the next day.

On Wednesday morning, Matt saw that his letter to the editor was in the paper. Within an hour, Matt was receiving phone calls from many parents who were behind him.

The school also received many calls disapproving their decision to suspend Matt, as well as their decision to suspend the entire team for two games.

That evening, Matt was wearing a suit as he, his mother, Joe and Joe's lawyer walked into the school board meeting. The room was packed with students and parents all in support of Matt.

When the meeting was called to order, one of Matt's teammates presented the school board with the petition to cancel the suspension. Most of the students in the middle school as well as several teachers signed it.

When Matt was asked to speak, he stood up and faced the board members. The room got silent as Matt began to address them; "First of all, I would like to formally apologize to the school board members as well as to the school, for the damage I caused to the gymnasium. I have with me, a cashier's check for $300 to pay for the cost of cleaning the windows. I did not get this money from my mother. I withdrew it from my savings account. I earned the money last summer.

I have a spotless record and I am an honor student. I made a mistake, and I agree that there has to be consequences for my actions.

However, I think that the punishment I have received is too extreme and does not fit the crime. I offered to spend time after school washing the school windows, but that suggestion was rejected.

I regret that I handled my anger in the wrong way, but it was not my first choice of expressing my opinion.

First, I wrote an editorial for the school paper, protesting the team suspension, but I was told that it would not be printed. I should have pursued it through proper channels, but instead, I acted without thinking."

Matt paused for a moment and then continued. "When the school year first started, we were all told that if we were caught with alcohol or drugs, that we would be kicked off of the team, period. However, when a few players were drinking, Coach Adams suspended the entire team for two games.

We are undefeated. Those two games will be counted as losses. I don't think that is fair to the team, especially those of us who weren't drinking."

At this point, the president of the school board interrupted Matt. "Coach Adams said he suspended the entire team because he didn't know which players had been drinking."

Matt got very angry and said, "Excuse me Sir, but that is completely untruthful." The entire room got very quiet as Matt continued. "Coach Adams knew precisely which four players had been drinking, because he caught them with the beer in the locker room."

"I was in the restroom attached to the locker room and I overheard the entire conversation. I should have told Mr. Andrews this, but, I didn't think he would believe me, a thirteen year old kid rather than one of the teachers."

The president of the board asked him "If this was true, why didn't he kick those four students off the team?" Everybody was looking at Coach Adams when Matt answered the question.

"I guess that Coach Adams didn't kick them off the team, because one of the students was the son of a school board member and another one of them was Coach Adam's son."

As he said that, Matt handed the list with the names of the four students to the school board president. The entire room became very loud with everyone talking.

The president called the room to order and said that the board would discuss the matter in private and return with its decision. He also asked the son of the school board member; one of the players on Matt's list, to join them.

Twenty minutes later, the board returned with its decision. The president started speaking and the entire room got quiet. "After going over all of the facts, we realize that this incident was not handled in the proper manner. We have decided to drop Matt's suspension and accept Matt's check for the damages. We have also dropped the team suspension."

"However, there has to be consequences for the students who were drinking. The four students involved, are hereby removed from the basketball team and will be barred from playing on any other sports teams for the rest of the year."

"As to the other matter before the school board, Matt, while your anger was justified, we cannot condone vandalism. You showed poor judgment, as well as unsportsmanlike behavior. You are hereby suspended from the basketball team for the next two games." The entire room began booing the school board.

When the room had calmed down, Matt addressed the school board president; "Sir, it won't be necessary to suspend me. Before I came to this meeting tonight, I made the decision to quit the basketball team. I cannot play for a coach whom I no longer respect."

Everybody started cheering for Matt and then a student in the back of the room stood up and said, "That goes for me as well. I'm quitting also." Matt turned around and saw that it was one of his teammates. Then, one by one, nine more players stood up and quit the basketball team.

After the meeting was over, a man came over to Matt who was talking to Betty and Joe, and introduced himself as the editor of the San Francisco Tribune.

He told Matt that he read Matt's letter in the paper as well as the one to the students. He told Matt that he was impressed by his writing ability as well as his courage and integrity for standing up for what he believed in.

"When you graduate from college, come see me. I can use writers like you." Then, he shook Matt's hand. After the editor left, Betty hugged her son and told him, that she was very proud of him. Joe put his arm around Matt's shoulder and said, "What you did tonight, took a great deal of courage. You have shown maturity beyond your years. I am very proud of you."

When Matt heard this, he was bursting with pride and he felt ten feet tall. Then, Matt told Joe and his mom, "Thank you for making me solve my problem and not fixing it for me. This experience makes me realize that I need to speak out against injustice and not just wait until others do."

After the school board meeting, there was a lot of pressure on the board to get rid of Coach Adams and at the end of the semester, he was asked to resign. Mr. Andrews was transferred to another school as well, but in a teaching position, not an administrative one.

Since there were not enough players to finish the basketball season, the school forfeited the rest of the games of the season.

Chapter 18

In Mid-October, Matt, Mary, and their younger siblings once again, went into high gear with the "Kids Caring for Kids" campaign. They started sending out letters, making phone calls and the editor of the San Francisco gave them a half page advertisement for free. They had twice the amount of teens helping with the project as the 1st year.

As Thanksgiving approached, Mary and Matt insisted that they be allowed to help at the women and children's shelter again. Betty was so proud of her children for the compassion that they showed towards others and she was proud of Joe for inspiring her children to reach their full potential in all aspects of their lives.

That Christmas season, KCK was even more successful than the previous year. They raised over two million dollars and were able to buy clothes and gifts for over 10,000 children.

Joe was very dedicated to Betty's children. When he was not at work, he was attending school plays, recitals, school concerts as well as sporting events and scout activities. He taught Sunday school, was now a Boy Scout leader, as Mark, Luke and John were in scouting. He helped coach Little League, soccer, and even helped teach the younger ones how to swim.

Joe could not be happier. He loved his new family. He loved helping them with their homework and encouraged them to try as hard as they could in school and in life. Joe loved reading books to Sarah and Becca. They looked up to Joe as a father as they had never known their real father.

One Saturday evening in late January, Sarah spiked a fever and she was not feeling good. Betty was at work and Joe was home with the kids.

Joe gave Sarah some medicine to bring down her fever, and put her to bed. When he went to check on her at ten o'clock pm, she was burning up. When Joe took her temperature, it was over 105 degrees.

Joe woke up Mary and told her to watch the rest of the kids while took Sarah to the emergency room. He called Betty and she was waiting for them when they got to the hospital. Both Joe and Betty knew that if her fever got any worse, she could die.

The doctor performed a spinal tap and the results confirmed her suspicions. Sarah had spinal meningitis. The doctor started Sarah on strong medicines and wrapped her in a cooling blanket to start bringing down her temperature.

Sarah was transferred to the pediatric intensive care unit and Joe stayed with her and told Betty to finish her shift, as there was nothing they could do but wait. Joe stayed by Sarah's side putting cool damp cloths on her forehead to help cool her down. As Joe sat there with Sarah, he silently prayed to God to help Sara make it through her illness.

When Betty got off work, she relieved Joe so that he could go home and get some sleep. After four hours of sleep, Joe went back to the hospital and finally convinced Betty to go home and get some sleep.

Over the next three days, Betty and Joe took turns sitting at Sarah's bedside so that one of them would always be with her in case she woke up.

Finally, on Wednesday morning, Sara started to wake up. Her temperature had come down and she asked for something to eat. As Betty talked to the doctor, Joe went to the hospital chapel and said a prayer of thanks to God for helping Sarah.

Joe and Betty had been so worried that she might die, and neither of them had slept much in those three days. They were mentally, physically and emotionally exhausted. Sarah went home two days later and soon returned to her energetic self.

In February, the twins turned two, and the family had a big party for them.

Chapter 19

Winter gradually turned into spring. In March, Matt turned fourteen. That May, he was confirmed and in June, he graduated from middle school.

At each of the events, Joe and Betty helped him celebrate the milestone, as they did for each holiday and milestone in each of the kids' lives. Joe helped the kids plan surprises for their mother on her birthday, Mother's Day and other holidays.

Joe had a knack for making each child feel special. At their sporting events, when he was not coaching, he cheered louder than anyone else did. At school plays and at other performances, he clapped louder and longer than anyone else and often, he was the one to lead the standing ovation.

He congratulated them when they got good grades and consoled them when the grades were lower, and helped them to figure what went wrong.

Joe always made the kids feel important and good about themselves. When he coached their teams, he would focus on their strengths and weaknesses, and when his team lost games, he took them out for ice cream or burgers for trying so hard, and he would let the kids discuss what went wrong and what skills needed more practice.

With Mary's 16th birthday approaching, Joe and Betty were taking care of the last minute details of her surprise sweet-sixteen surprise party. They had rented a ballroom at a local hotel and had invited over two hundred teenagers from her school.

On the invitations, they had requested that as an alternative to presents, they bring non-perishable food items, which would be donated, to a local food pantry. That is what Mary told Joe and her mom that they she wanted for her birthday. All 200 of the teens had sent RSVP's to Joe's work address.

When her birthday arrived, Joe told Mary that he was taking her somewhere special that evening for her birthday. Mary was very curious, but she did not ask any more questions.

Betty told her daughter that she had a special day planned for her. First, they went out to a fancy restaurant for a light breakfast. Then, Betty took her to a day spa. Mary got the works. She received a facial, manicure, pedicure, and a massage. Then, they went to a hair stylist, where Mary got her hair done. After that, they went shopping for a new outfit. Mary wore her new outfit out of the store after they had paid for it.

While Mary was putting the dress on, in the dressing room, Betty called Joe and told him that they would arrive in at the ballroom in thirty minutes. Meanwhile, Joe had finished decorating the ballroom with Matt's help. Joe had thought of everything, from the music and DJ, to the flowers and balloons, to the signs and the food.

All of the guests had arrived a half-hour before Betty and Mary were to be there. They all followed the instructions on the invitations and had each brought generous donations of food for the shelter. There was over a ton of food and they had to pile it up in a corner of the ballroom because there was so much.

Betty told Mary that Joe wanted her to meet him at a restaurant in a nice hotel. When they arrived, Mary still didn't have any suspicions about the party, and when she and her mom walked into the ballroom, her family and friends all yelled surprise and Happy Birthday.

Mary had the biggest smile on her face and she was overwhelmed. When she saw the pile of food in the corner of the room, she was very pleased and she thanked everybody for their donations to the shelter.

When Joe saw Mary walk in, he was speechless. She looked at least eighteen or nineteen and she was gorgeous.

Mary spent the first half an hour mingling with friends. Then the DJ announced that it was time for the first dance. He asked Mary whom she wanted to dance with.

Mary's eyes searched around the room until she spotted him. She went up to Joe and asked if he would dance with her. Joe accepted, and as everybody watched, Joe and Mary danced around the ballroom

Mary felt like she was walking on clouds. While they were dancing, Mary thanked him for the party and told him it was the best night of her life. Joe was quiet for a while and then told her; "Mary, you are the most beautiful young lady I have ever met, inside and out. Any guy would fell honored to be with you." Mary blushed.

Joe had always encouraged her to have a social life and meet guys. Mary did date occasionally, but she never got too serious about any one guy. Deep down, Mary knew that there was only one guy, who would ever make her truly happy, but she knew that it was just a dream.

After the first dance, the party kicked into high gear. Mary danced with over fifty guys that evening. She even danced with her brothers. When she danced with Matt, he told her how beautiful she looked.

Matt had his share of dances as well. Even though he had just graduated from middle school, he looked like he was fifteen or sixteen, and many girls found him attractive and kept asking him to dance.

The hours passed quickly and by one o'clock am, the last of the guests were leaving. Joe had arranged for a truck to pick up the food and deliver it to the shelter the next day. Mary hugged her mother and thanked her for the party, and then Betty took the rest of the family home.

Joe and Mary were alone, except for the DJ. He played one last slow song and Joe and Mary danced around the room, with Mary's head on Joe's shoulder and neither of them saying a word.

Mary had strong feelings for Joe, but it would be foolish for her to tell him because he could not possibly be interested in a girl as young as Mary.

Joe was wishing that Mary was a few years older, or that he was a few years younger. He felt something special between Mary and himself.

On the drive home, Mary and Joe listened to music and talked. When they arrived home, Mary looked at Joe and suddenly had a terrified look on her face.

"What's wrong Mary?" asked Joe. "I forgot all about you, Joe," she told him, "I forgot to wish you a Happy Birthday." Joe, just smiled and told her; "Seeing you so happy was the best present I could hope for."

"Well, Happy Birthday two hours late" said Mary, and she kissed Joe on the cheek and they went into the house. Mary was now sixteen and Joe was twenty.

The next week, Mary started working as a waitress at Francisco's Restaurant. Joe told her he could get her an interview, but it was up to her from then on.

Mary got the job, and since she now had her driver's license, she drove Joe's car or the family van to work. Later that summer, Betty purchased a used car for the family, since they had another driver and in a couple of years, Matt would be driving as well.

Mary loved her job. She was very friendly and efficient. She got many nice tips. She had money to buy her own clothes and other things as well as saving some for college.

Matt was still making money doing yard work around the neighborhood and had Mark and Luke working with him so that he could take care of more yards. Matt was also feeding and walking the neighbor dogs when his neighbors went away for the weekend.

Chapter 20

Before long, the new school year had arrived. Mary was now a junior and Matt was a freshman. Mark was starting middle school, Luke was in the 4th grade, John was in the second grade and Paul was starting kindergarten. The twins were 2 ½ years old.

Mary had decided that she wanted to major in Business in college, and she had started to send in college applications to colleges.

She was in the top of her class and was still on the swimming and tennis teams. She was involved in student government and was class president. She was active in the school choir as well.

At church, she was active in the youth group in addition to the church's adult choir. After three years of piano lessons she had become quite good at playing.

Matt joined the high school newspaper staff as a reporter and a photographer. He also worked on the yearbook staff. He made the junior varsity basketball team and the track team in the spring.

He was writing small articles for local magazines and wrote some editorials for the San Francisco Tribune, giving the viewers a teenager's point of view. Matt loved writing and he was quite good at it. He also found time to play the guitar and of course to date girls.

With the kids getting older and involved in more activities, Joe and Betty became busier and busier with sports, homework, music lessons and school activities. The twins were a handful all by themselves.

The school year flew by quickly. The annual KCK drive had continued to grow and branched out into suburbs of San Francisco. There were over 300 teenagers and 30 adults working on the project from September through December.

As more businesses got involved, they were able to help more kids. KCK had moved into a warehouse donated by a local business. They raised over five million and helped more than 100,000 children.

Soon, it was February 26th, two days before Matt's 15th birthday, a day that he might never have seen, if God had not intervened. After track practice, Matt and a group of the other guys on the team went to a local diner to get something to eat.

Matt was eating a hamburger and was not paying attention to how fast he was eating. All of a sudden, he could not breathe. A piece of hamburger became in his throat, and was blocking his trachea. He tried to cough it up, but he could not. Matt started to panic.

He grabbed his throat and tried to get his friends' attention. At first, they thought he was fooling around and they started laughing. By the time they realized he really could not breathe, Matt was really panicking. Nobody knew what to do.

Matt thought he was going to die. Everything seemed to be going in slow motion and he could not hear anything. Nobody was helping him.  
A few minutes earlier, Joe was driving home and something inside him told him to turn his car around and head towards the diner. Joe sensed that something was wrong. When he got to the diner, he jumped out of his car, and ran inside. He saw a bunch of people standing around someone who appeared to be in some kind of trouble.

Joe pushed people aside and saw that the person in trouble was Matt and that he was choking. Quickly, Joe got behind Matt and started performing the Heimlich maneuver on him.

After several attempts, he was able to dislodge the meat and it came out of Matt's mouth. Matt started gasping for air. Then he started crying, "I thought I was going to die, Joe. I thought I was going to die. I could not breathe and nobody knew what to do. I was so scared."

Matt grabbed hold of Joe and started crying. "Thank you, Joe. You saved my life. I would have died if you hadn't shown up when you did." It was then, that Joe realized that God had directed him to the diner.

During the ride home, Matt did not say anything. He was still shook up and shaking like a leaf.

When they arrived home, Matt ran into the house. Betty and Mary were sitting in the family room and Betty asked Matt why he was home so early. Matt opened his mouth to talk, but no words came out.

Matt started shaking and then started crying hysterically. Between sobs, he told his mom what had happened at the diner. Joe filled them in on the details. Betty thought it might be a good idea to take Matt to the Emergency Room to have him checked out by the doctor.

The doctor told Betty that there was nothing wrong with Matt physically, but emotionally, he was a total wreck. After his near death experience, Matt was so shook up by it, that he was having a panic attack.

The doctor tried to give Matt a sedative to calm him down, but Matt refused to take the pill. He was afraid he would choke on it too, so the doctor gave Matt the sedative by injection. Once they got home, Betty got Matt to lie down and after sitting with him for thirty minutes, and reassuring him, Matt finally dozed off to sleep.

Betty had been so busy taking Matt to the hospital that she did not even think about the fact that her son almost died. When it finally hit her, she asked Mary to get dinner started while she talked to Joe.

She gave Joe a hug and thanked him for being there when Matt needed him. "I am not the one you should thank," said Joe. "It was God who directed me to the diner. I was going the opposite direction, when something inside me told me to turn around and drive to the diner. I didn't even know that Matt was there."

Betty sat down next to Joe, took his hands in hers, and said; "Joe, after my husband left me and the children three years ago, I was scared to death. I did not know how I was going to support my children. I prayed to God for a miracle. Well Joe, God heard me and answered my prayers. He sent you to us.

You took us into your home and gave us hope again. You saved my life as well as the twins. Paul might not have made it, if you had not gotten him to the hospital with his broken leg. Now, you have saved Matt's life as well.

I know that God had a hand in this, but it was you with your decisions and actions that made the difference in our lives. There is no way that I will ever be able to thank you enough for what you have done for my family. I know that you are not related to us by blood, but I love you like a son and always will.

I'm sure that your parents are looking down on you now and are more proud of you that any parent could be." Joe thanked her and then Betty gave Joe a big hug and held him for a long time.

Matt was still affected by his near death experience for the next several days. He did not want to celebrate his birthday two days later. He would only eat soft foods like mashed potatoes and applesauce. He was fearful that he might choke again. He was afraid to go to sleep, because he was afraid that he would not wake up again. His mother had to mash up sedatives in his food so that he could sleep at night.

Matt had some sessions with a psychologist to help him deal with his fears. The doctor suggested that Matt get involved with a project that would occupy his time so that he was not thinking of death all of the time.

Matt told Joe that he wanted to talk with the California state government about making restaurants safer for the customers.

Joe was able to pull a few strings and he got Matt a chance to speak to the California Senate. Matt started preparing his speech. He was not nervous, because this was something that meant a lot to him personally.

The day finally arrived. Matt was dressed in his best suit, and was accompanied by his mother and Joe.

Matt got up to address the senate and told them that they needed to make a law that required every employee working in public eating establishment to become certified in CPR, and the Heimlich Maneuver. This law should include not only restaurants, but schools, hospitals, and nursing homes as well. It should include every single establishment that served food to customers.

Matt had many statistics with him, stating the number of people who had choked on food in the past several years and how many had died, because nobody knew how to help them.

One of the senators said that a law was not necessary, because it was something that the employers should do automatically. This made Matt quite angry. Matt started into a tirade. "About a month ago, I was at a diner in San Francisco with some of my friends after track practice. I was talking and eating, and a piece of hamburger got caught in my throat blocking my trachea. I could not cough it up, and I could not talk, or breathe.

When I finally got my friends' attention, none of them knew what to do. None of the employees knew what to do either. I started to panic. I thought I was going to die.

Everybody was standing around watching me, feeling helpless". Matt proceeded to describe his horrifying ordeal in graphic detail. "If Joe had not arrived when he did and performed the Heimlich maneuver on me, I would not be addressing you here today."

As a few of the senators were talking among themselves, Matt decided to keep the momentum going and made it much more personal for them.

"This time, it was me. What would happen if it were your son or daughter, what if it was your mother or father? What if it was your spouse who was choking to death, or even you? Are you willing to take the chance that the staff serving them or you would know what to do? Please, listen to me. The time to act is now. Write this bill before even one more person has to die needlessly. Thank you."

When Matt sat down, he got a standing ovation and a number of senators told him that they would write the bill that afternoon and they promised Matt that it would be passed.

A month later, Matt was invited to the state capitol to watch the governor sign the 'Matt Rogers Bill' into law. Soon, similar laws were popping up across the rest of the country.

The governor shook Matt's hand and told him to never stop fighting for what he believed in.

Matt also convinced the state school system to start teaching the Heimlich maneuver as early as elementary school and start teaching CPR in high school.

Chapter 21

Mary took her college entrance exams and scored in the top 20 % of the nation. She began receiving acceptance letters from colleges by the end of her junior year. She also began applying for scholarships.

During the summer, Mary worked full time as a server at Francisco's, while Matt got a job bagging groceries at a local supermarket. He was also helping coach peewee soccer and little league, and he helped at Vacation Bible School at their church.

Joe and Mary were doing a lot of volunteer work where they were working side by side. They volunteered at homeless shelters, nursing homes and helped with several fundraisers.

On June 20th, Joe turned twenty-one and Mary turned seventeen. To celebrate, they went to a performance of the San Francisco Symphony. The older they both got, the more they had in common, and the closer they became.

In September, as Mary was starting her senior year of high school, she had reached a decision concerning where she would attend college. She had decided on Stanford University, which had offered her a full four-year scholarship.

Mary wanted to be close to her family and to Joe. She was elected senior class vice president and was president of the National Honor Society. She was in the choir for the fourth year and was on the varsity swim team and the tennis team.

Matt was a sophomore and was the assistant editor of the high school newspaper and a photographer for the yearbook. Even though he was only a sophomore, he made the varsity basketball team and later, the varsity track team. At fifteen and a half, he stood six foot two inches and was still growing.

He sang in the school choir as well as the church choir. After his experience with the state senate the preceding year, he realized he was good at arguing his case, and he joined the debate team.

He continued to write short stories, and several of them were published in magazines. He also continued to write letters to the editor of the San Francisco Tribune whenever he strongly agreed or disagreed with an important issue.

Mark was now in the 7th grade. He played football and baseball. He sang in the choir and played the piano. He loved history and read every historical novel that he could get his hands on. He was in the Boy Scouts and was taking confirmation classes at church.

Luke was in 5th grade. Because he had crushes on a few of the girls in his class, he took home economics to be closer to them. He found that he loved to cook and the foods that he prepared were the best in the class.

He joined a golf team, which met after school, and he was playing the saxophone like a professional musician. He sang in the choir and was in the Boy Scouts. He was following in Matt's and Mark's footsteps when it came to girls. Many of the girls had crushes on him. Good manners and good looks ran in his family.

John was in 3rd grade and had recently started playing the drums. He was a Cub Scout and like a typical 3rd grade boy, he despised girls.

Paul was in 1st grade, loved to play chess, and was quite good at it. He had just started to take violin lessons. He was very protective of his little sisters.

Sara and Becca were three and a half and went to pre-school three days per week. Becca often watched Mary and Mark playing the piano and one day, after watching Mary very closely, she climbed up onto the piano stool and began playing the same song Mary had played, from memory. Betty started Becca in piano lessons immediately. After only a few weeks, the instructor called Becca a musical prodigy.

Chapter 22

As the school year flew by, Mary started looking forward to graduation, but at the same time, was a little scared of what her future had in store for her. She was in charge of KCK and by Christmas, they had raised over ten million dollars.

Soon, it was three weeks before Mary's eighteenth birthday, and her high school graduation was a few days away. Joe told Betty that he needed to talk to her concerning a private matter.

They went out for a cup of coffee, so they could talk in private. Joe was very nervous as he sat down with Betty. He told her that he cared a great deal for Mary and had cared about her since the first time they met. He said that while she was in school, and under the age of eighteen, he did not think it appropriate that he get too serious about her.

Joe told Betty, that now that Mary was graduating from high school and would be eighteen in a few weeks, he would like to take Mary on a real date, to see if Mary felt the same way as he did, and he would like Betty's blessing.

Betty was quiet for a moment and then laughed. "I wondered how long it would be before you confessed your true feelings for Mary." said Betty. I have known that you have been in love with her, for the past few years.

Of all the guys in Mary's life, you are the only one whom I trust 100%. You have my permission as well as my blessing to ask her out on a date. After that, it's all up to her." Joe was very relieved.

On graduation night, as Mary received her diploma, her entire family cheered and clapped for her. They were very proud of her. Before Mary went to the first of the graduation parties, Joe asked her if she would like to go to dinner and a movie the next evening. Mary quickly answered yes. Joe congratulated her on her graduation and gave her a quick hug and them Mary went with some friends to the first of many graduation parties.

Mary got back home at 4:00 o'clock in the morning and slept until three o'clock in the afternoon. That evening, Joe was very nervous as he waited for Mary to get ready. He could not understand why he was so nervous, as they had gone out to dinner and movies many times before.

When Mary walked into the family room, it was as if time stood still. Joe stood there looking at her. He was totally mesmerized. She looked at least twenty-two years old and Joe had never seen her look more beautiful.

Joe and Mary said goodbye to everybody and Joe opened the front passenger door of his car and helped Mary into the car. Twenty minutes later, they arrived at the restaurant. 'Antonio's' was the best Italian restaurant in San Francisco. It was known for not only its food, but its ambience and décor as well.

They were seated immediately in the quieter part of the restaurant. After they had ordered, Mary started to admire the exquisite paintings in the room, as Joe was admiring her. A waiter brought over a large bouquet of flowers and gave it to Mary. They were Mary's favorite flowers; daffodils and pansies. As Mary read the card that came with the flowers, her eyes lit up. "To my dear Mary" the card began, "I hope that your future is as bright as you have made my life over the past four years." The card was signed; "Love, Joe".

As Mary put down the card, Joe took her hand in his and said; "Mary, I have been in love with you for a long time, but I didn't want it to interfere with your teenage years. Therefore, I kept my feelings to myself. But, now that you are out of high school and will be eighteen in a couple of weeks, I can finally reveal my true feelings."

Joe's palms were sweating and he was very nervous. He was fearful that Mary might not feel the same way about him. He did not have to speculate about her feelings for very long.

Mary become quiet for a moment and as her eyes began to water, she said; "Oh Joe, I fell in love with you the first time I saw you on that cold rainy day in November over four years ago. At first, I thought it was just a crush. However, I knew it was really love, when we celebrated our birthdays together for the first time. When we blew out the candle on the cake, I wished that someday we would go on a real date." Joe admitted that he had made the same wish that night.

"Whenever I had an awful day at school, I always knew that I'd feel better once I got home," said Mary. "You make me laugh and you fill me with so much happiness that I feel I will explode. Today is the happiest day of my life". Then, Mary pinched herself to make sure that she was not dreaming.

Joe and Mary continued to hold hands during the rest of the meal. After dinner, they dropped the flowers off at the house, and then drove to the movie theater.

Joe let Mary pick out the movie and since both of them liked romantic movies that is what she picked. Fifteen minutes into the movie, Mary put her head on Joe's shoulder and Joe put his arm around her shoulders.

As they watched the movie, they both felt like nothing else mattered as long as they were together. They both felt like they were dreaming and they did not want to ever wake up.

After the movie was over, Joe drove Mary home. On the way, they talked about the movie. It was after midnight when they arrived home.

They sat on the porch swing, looking at the full moon in the sky, while they held hands. They turned towards each other at the same time and Joe reached over and gently kissed Mary on the lips. Then they kissed again.

Mary had seen movies where people saw fireworks when they kissed someone they loved. Mary had never understood it until now. When Joe kissed her, the entire night sky lit up in an explosion of multicolored lights. In her mind, she heard the most beautiful music. She felt a warm feeling in her heart that soon spread all over her body and her toes tingled. Her heart was overflowing with love and then the tears started to flow. They were tears of happiness and joy.

Joe's eyes were also getting a little misty. He handed Mary a handkerchief and put his arm around her and they just sat there on the swing for another thirty minutes, just holding onto each other.

When they finally went into the house, Joe kissed Mary good night and then he went into his bedroom and closed the door. Mary saw that her mother's light was still on, so she went in to talk to her.

Betty was reading a book and looked up when Mary opened the door. Mary was smiling from ear to ear and she looked happier than Betty had ever seen her before.

"He loves me." Mary blurted out. She had to tell someone. She wanted to tell the entire world. "He really loves me as much as I love him. I feel like a princess who has found her prince at last."

Mary proceeded to tell her mother everything that happened that night. Betty saw how excited and ecstatic Mary was. She knew that Mary was very much in love.

The next morning, Mary told Matt about her and Joe. Matt was very happy for both of them.

Over the next couple of weeks, Mary and Joe dated when they could find the time. Mary was working full time at Francisco's and Joe was busy with coaching, scouts and running SaraCom.

Matt got a job at the San Francisco Tribune as an errand boy and he learned a lot about the newspaper business. Mark and Luke took over Matt's lawn service with Matt's old customers.

On Mary's eighteenth birthday, Betty told her that she would match her two dollars for every dollar that Mary had saved, towards buying a car for college in the fall. Mary had saved just over three thousand dollars, so with hers and her mom's money, she had nine thousand dollars for a car.

Betty and Mary went out to shop for a car. Mary wanted a car that was fuel-efficient and would not pollute the atmosphere too much. After test-driving several cars, Mary finally decided on a three-year-old Honda Civic. She drove it home that day.

When Matt saw that Mary had her own car, he was ecstatic, because he now had exclusive use of the family's second car. He could use the car to go to work and on dates. He was a very responsible driver.

Chapter 23

Betty and Joe wanted Mary to experience college life to the fullest. They encouraged her to live in the dorm on campus at Stanford. Joe convinced Mary that it was the wisest choice, even though he would miss seeing her each day.

As the summer ended, Mary and Joe spent every available moment together. They both agreed to go slowly in their relationship. Joe wanted Mary to put her college education ahead of everything else.

When the time came for Mary to leave for school, it was hard for her to say goodbye to her brothers and sisters. She hugged her mom goodbye and then she drove to Stanford with Joe following her in his car, to help her take all of her things to the dorm.

After Mary was unpacked and settled in to her dorm room, she and Joe took a walk around campus and then ate lunch together.

When it was time for Joe to go back to San Francisco, Mary became very sad, as she did not want him to leave. Joe told her that they could talk on the phone every night and she would be coming home on most weekends.

Mary e-mailed her mother and Joe every day and tried to e-mail her siblings as often as she could. Mary and Joe talked to each other every night by phone. It was the last thing Mary did before going to sleep.

Meanwhile, back in San Francisco, the rest of the kids were getting settled in at school as well.

Matt was a junior in high school. He was the editor of the school paper and was on the basketball and track teams. He was getting excellent grades because he was studying as hard as he could. He dated occasionally, but did not have a steady girlfriend until the end of his junior year, and that girl was the one that he would eventually marry one day.

Mark was in the 8th grade and was very popular with the girls. He was the quarterback on the football team as well as the class president. In wood shop, he made his mother a magazine rack out of oak. He was also in Boy scouts and would be confirmed in the spring.

Luke was in the 6th grade. He was struggling with his dyslexia, but he was determined to overcome it. He loved to cook and got straight A's in Home Economics class. He did a lot of the cooking at home as well and could cook better than Betty or Joe. He made gourmet meals that were also healthy, and the family loved them. He was still in the Boy Scouts as well.

John was in the 4th grade. He loved camping and was in the Cub scouts. Paul was in the 2nd grade and the twins were in preschool.

On the first Saturday in October, Joe had a surprise for the family. When Mary arrived home from Stanford, Joe drove everyone to the city hall. Matt kept asking Joe what the surprise was, but Joe would not even give a hint.

When they arrived at the city hall, there were reporters and camera crews from all of the local television stations as well as a lot of official looking people in suits.

Joe led the family into the building to a room where many chairs were set up. Joe led them to seats near the front of the room facing the podium. The room was crowded with people.

The room became quiet as the mayor of San Francisco went to the podium and began to speak. "Four years ago, two teenagers with grand dreams and big hearts, founded an organization to help bring joy to underprivileged children in San Francisco at Christmas.

In the past four years, this organization has raised over twenty five million dollars, which has been used to provide toys and clothes to thousands of children in the San Francisco area.

Today, we are here to honor these two young people. Mary and Matt Rogers, would you both join me up here at the podium?" Everybody started cheering and clapping as Mary and Matt walked up to the podium.

As the mayor shook hands with Mary and Matt, he told them "Matt and Mary, you have gotten the entire community involved in helping our children. I would like to publicly thank you both as well as all of the teenagers and adults who have helped with this great endeavor. Matt and Mary, we have a very special surprise for you."

At that point, the governor of California approached the podium and shook hands with Mary and Matt. "Matt and Mary," he began, "It is my pleasure to inform you, that starting this Christmas season, Kids Caring for Kids is going statewide.

This year, cities all over the state of California will be collecting money, toys and clothing for the needy children of California. Thousands of teenagers and adults across this great state will be bringing joy to tens of thousands of needy children.

Those children will have the two of you to thank for a Christmas to remember. Would you like to say anything?" Matt stepped up to the microphone and spoke on behalf of Mary and himself.

"We would like to thank you for your kind words, Governor, but it is not us that you should be thanking. Hundreds of teens and adults all over the San Francisco area have worked hundreds of hours to make this happen.

Merchants and generous donors from all over San Francisco have opened their hearts and have donated money, clothing and toys to Kids Caring for Kids or KCK as it is now known".

Matt and Mary received a standing ovation and they felt like they were walking on clouds. They had talked of KCK going statewide and someday nationwide. After the applause died down, Matt added one more thing.

"When Mary and I started KCK four years ago, we dreamed of the day when it would go statewide and someday nationwide. Now, there is only one part of our dream yet to achieve. 'Today; the state of California, tomorrow; the USA'. Thank you for your continued support."

Afterwards, Matt and Mary agreed to be interviewed, because they knew the publicity would help their message reach more people throughout the state. They were right. That year, KCK raised over fifty million dollars statewide, which helped over 250,000 needy children. It was definitely a Christmas to remember.

Chapter 24

Joe and Mary became even closer over the next few years. They saw each other as much as possible. Joe visited Mary at Stanford, several times. Mary concentrated on school and during the summers, she returned to San Francisco, worked full time as a server, and helped with KCK, which was becoming more successful each year. Before long, it was Mary's senior year of college. She was on track to graduate with honors.

Matt finished high school with an outstanding academic record, and was accepted to Columbia University to study journalism.

Even though he was attending school in New York, and his girlfriend Hannah Alexander was across the country attending UCLA, their relationship flourished.

Matt was also writing articles and short stories for national publications. He returned home to California as often as possible.

Mark was a junior in high school and was a star pitcher as well as the team's best hitter. College scouts were watching him closely.

He was approached by a minor league team wanting to sign him immediately. After discussing it with his mother, they decided that he should finish college first.

Mark was on the football team, played the piano, and sang in the choir. In the Boy Scouts, he was working towards his Eagle Scout award.

Luke was a sophomore in high school and had come to accept his dyslexia, but got angry when people called it a disability. He preferred to think of it as a personal challenge instead.

He was becoming a great chef, for his age. He had won several cooking competitions and his dream was to go to a gourmet cooking school in Paris. He loved to play golf and was quite good. He played the saxophone and was active in the Boy Scouts, church and school choirs.

John was in 8th grade. He would be confirmed that spring. He loved playing the drums and was part of a small middle school band. He played baseball and was active in the Boy Scouts.

Paul was in the 6th grade. He played the violin, played football and was in little league. He loved to play chess and could beat anyone in his family. He was also a Boy Scout.

Sarah and Becca were in the third grade and were both active in Girl Scouts. Sarah played the harp and Becca played the piano so well that she was now being tutored by a piano instructor from Stanford.

Both girls sang in the church children's choir, and they both loved to play soccer and do gymnastics.

Joe was more active in the lives of all of the kids than ever before. He was scoutmaster for the Boy Scout troop and was Cookie Dad for Sarah and Becca's Girl Scout troop. He spent a lot of time tutoring the kids and helping Betty to chaperone them at activities, and chauffer them around to their activities.

Joe's company; SaraCom was doing quite well. SaraCom's success, in addition to all of his Microsoft stock and the rest of his stock portfolio, gave Joe a net worth of over 400 million dollars. He continued to donate to several charities and was able to stay out of the public eye. Francisco's had become one of the top ten restaurants in the city.

Chapter 25

As Mary was completing her last year of college, everything was going perfect in her life. She and Joe were deeply and completely in love. She would receive her business degree in May.

About a month before Mary's graduation, Joe sat down with Betty to have a serious discussion. He told Betty that he wanted to marry her daughter and that he wanted Betty's blessing.

Betty gave Joe a big hug and said "Joe, you have been like a son to me for the past eight years. I cannot wait until you are officially, my son. You have my permission and my blessing to marry my daughter."

They began discussing Joe's plan to propose to Mary. Joe planned a dinner at his restaurant for the entire family the week after Mary's graduation. He told everyone that it was a dinner to celebrate Mary's graduation from college.

Matt would be finished with his sophomore year at Columbia and the entire family would be home.

Mark had been offered baseball scholarships from several colleges, even though he still had one more year of high school year to go. Mark decided on UCLA, because he wanted to stay in California. He would major in History and minor in Physical Education.

The big night finally arrived. Everyone, including Mary thought the dinner was to celebrate Mary's college graduation. Everyone was dressed up.

When they arrived at Francisco's they found a long line of angry people standing outside the restaurant. Joe had everyone wait in the van while he checked on their reservations. As Joe approached the door, he heard several people arguing about their reservations.

The only person, who knew that Joe was the owner of the restaurant, was the manager David Jameson, who was not working that night.

Joe approached the hostess, who appeared to be eighteen or nineteen years old. Joe asked her why so many people were waiting to be seated if they had reservations.

The young lady looked around and whispered to Joe that the assistant manager Ethan, who was the manager's nephew, had invited a bunch of his college buddies to the restaurant and they had been drinking and partying for quite a while and they refused to leave.

Joe asked to speak to Ethan. When Ethan arrived, Joe told him that he should honor the reservations of the people who were waiting. Ethan, who had been drinking, just laughed at Joe and told him that he was the one calling the shots. Joe insisted that Ethan call the manager, but Ethan refused.

Joe went outside, called Dave Jameson on his cell phone, and explained the situation to him. When Dave arrived, he asked to see Ethan and when Dave demanded an explanation from his nephew, Ethan was extremely rude to his uncle. Dave told Ethan that he was fired and told him to leave immediately to take his friends with him before he called the police.

Dave started to apologize to Joe, but Joe interrupted him and told him that he did not hold him responsible for his nephew's actions.

Joe and Dave discussed the situation for a few moments. They approached Ariel who was the hostess and Dave offered her the job of assistant manager. He introduced Joe as the owner of the restaurant.

Ariel did not know if she could do the job. Joe told her "It took a lot of nerve to stand up to Ethan. I know that you can do the job. I have faith in you".

Ariel accepted the job and once the tables had been cleared, Ariel, Dave and Joe started seating the guests as quickly as possible. Joe apologized to them and informed them that the dinners were free, and that they would each get gift certificates for another visit as well.

When all of the tables were full, there was still a party of thirty guests whom there to celebrate a couple's fiftieth anniversary. Joe had reserved the private dining room for his family, but it was big enough for two parties. He invited the other party to join him and his family in the private dining room.

Mary and her family had been patiently waiting outside the restaurant, and had not seen that Joe had helped take care of the situation. Joe escorted them into the private dining room. Dave and Ariel quickly started bringing menus and taking orders from Joe and his family as well as the party of thirty on the other side of the room.

Joe sent a few bottles of very expensive champagne to the other tables to help them celebrate the fiftieth anniversary. Dave apologized to them and told them that their entire dinner was on the house.
Chapter 26

When Joe and his family had been served, Joe toasted Mary in honor of her college degree in Business Administration. There was a lot of conversation throughout the meal.

Before desert was served, and while Mary was talking to her mother, Joe got down on one knee and took Mary's hand in his.

The entire room became silent. Joe looked into Mary's eyes and said; "Mary, from the very first time I saw you, I knew that you were a special lady. Over the past eight years, I have fallen deeply in love with you. You make me happier than I ever thought possible. I would be deeply honored if you would spend the rest of your life with me. Will you marry me?"

As he proposed, Joe opened a ring box, which contained the most beautiful diamond ring that Mary had ever seen.

Mary, who had been waiting eight years for this moment, had tears in her eyes as she looked at Joe and said; "Yes, oh yes, Joe." Joe slipped the engagement ring on Mary's finger and they both kissed and then hugged.

Then, Matt spoke up, "It's about time, Joe" and everybody laughed. The entire room applauded the happy couple.

Joe told Mary that the engagement ring was the same one that his father had proposed to his mother with and that he knew of no happier marriage than theirs. On the other side of the room, the couple who were celebrating their fiftieth anniversary were holding hands and staring into each other's eyes as if they were remembering their special day.

Matt stood up, raised a glass, and gave a toast to Mary and Joe; "Joe, you have been like a father and a brother and most importantly, a friend to all of us these past eight years, and I am very proud to welcome you into the family."

Then, Matt gave Joe a big hug. Then, the rest of the family all hugged Mary and Joe.

After everyone had congratulated them, Joe excused himself, to check on the other party. As he approached the elderly couple, they congratulated Joe. Joe asked if everything was satisfactory and again apologized for the delay of their reservations.

When Joe was finished speaking, the other man offered his thanks for a wonderful night. "The dinner was terrific. Thank you for the champagne son. My name is Thomas Williams and this is my wife Lucille". Joe just stood there as if he looking right through them.

After a moment, he spoke. "I know who you are, sir. You see, my name is Joseph Thomas Williams. My father was Thomas John Williams III; your son, whom you disowned thirty years ago.

You probably did not know this, but my parents died in an automobile accident ten years ago. Until the day he died, my father prayed that someday you would accept his marriage to my mother. My mother and father were the only family that I had, until I met the Rogers family and they are now my only family. Now, if you will excuse me, I must get back to my fiancé."

Joe turned and walked away from them. Mr. and Mrs. Williams just sat there and stared at Joe as he walked away. They were so shocked that they could not say anything. They were feeling very ashamed; because of the way, they had treated Joe's parents.

Joe had known that his grandparents had moved to California about a year earlier, when his grandfather had retired. They were living quite comfortably, as they were worth about twenty-five million dollars. Joe did not intend to contact them, and seeing them at his restaurant had taken him by surprise.

As they were finishing their dessert, Mary noticed that people from the other party kept looking towards Joe. When she mentioned it to Joe, he told Mary that he would explain everything later, when they were alone.

Betty sensed that Joe and Mary wanted some privacy, so she took the rest of the family home. Joe and Mary got into his car and they drove to a quiet diner, to have coffee and talk.

Joe told Mary that the two elderly people were his grandparents and he then proceeded to explain what had happened thirty years ago.

Then, Joe told Mary that there was another secret that he had been keeping from her for the past nine years. He told her that he was the owner of 'Francisco's': the restaurant where they had just eaten. He also told her that he was the CEO and major stockholder of SaraCom. He informed Mary that he was worth more than four hundred million dollars. He did not want people to know because most people treat him different when they know he is rich.

Mary told Joe that she had known all about him for years. She had overheard Joe and her mom talking about SaraCom and when she later asked her mom about it, her mother told her the whole story.

"I understand why you kept it a secret, Joe. I will sign a prenuptial agreement if you wish. I do not want your money, Joe. I just want you."

Joe took Mary's hands in his and told her "From this moment forward, all that I have, SaraCom, Francisco's and all of the stocks, bonds and cash is ours. Now, you can help me use the money to help the less fortunate. Mary, you can't imagine how good it feels to help so many people."

After Joe kissed Mary, he said; "If we lost everything tomorrow, I would still be the richest person in the world, because I would have you, and no amount of wealth could make me as happy as you do."

Joe asked Mary when she wanted to get married. Mary replied; "How about June 20th, next year. Then each year on that day, we can celebrate our anniversary as well as our birthdays" Joe thought it was an excellent idea, so the date was set. They sealed it with a kiss.

Chapter 27

Two days later was Father's day. Matt told Joe that he wanted to take Mary and him out to dinner to celebrate their engagement. He would not tell Joe where he was taking them, until they got there. When they pulled up to the Civic Center, Matt told Joe that he had made reservations the night before.

They went in and found seats near the front of the auditorium. The room was packed. Joe was confused as to what was going on.

Nathan Johnson, the president of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, stood up and went to the microphone to speak. The room quieted down and Mr. Johnson began; "Most of you know why we are here tonight. We are to honor a person of character, integrity, a person who has made a difference in the lives of so many people over the years

Of course, the person I am referring to is this year's Father of the year; Joseph Thomas Williams. Joe and Matt, would you please come forward?"

Joe was still not quite sure of what was going on, but he went with Matt to the front of the room. Mr. Johnson offered a chair to Joe as Matt took the microphone. Joe looked out into the crowd of people and he saw Matt's brothers, sisters, and Betty waving at him.

Matt pulled some papers from a pocket inside his sport jacket. He looked at Joe and said "Joe, this is why I nominated you for Father of the Year." Joe could see now, that Matt pretending to take Mary and him out to dinner was just part of the plan to get him to the Civic Center. Everyone quieted down as Matt began to speak.

"My real father left us when I was eleven years old. He took all of our money from our checking and savings accounts and left us with many unpaid bills. After we lost our house, my mother moved us to San Francisco.

My mother was barely able to support five children plus two more on the way. One morning, my sister Mary and I took the bus downtown to look at the shops. It started turning cold and it began pouring down rain. We did not have coats and we were soaked and chilled to the bone.

Joe saw us shivering in front of Jack's Diner and when he got out of his car, he gave each of us a jacket and invited us into the diner for lunch."

Matt took a drink of water and continued. "Mary and I had not had much to eat in a few days and we were starving. Each of us ate two lunches that day.

After we had warmed up and we were full, Joe had a police officer drive us home. He gave the officer some money to give to our mother to help buy food and clothing for our family.

Joe came to our house a few days later to meet the rest of our family. Over the next few weeks, Joe came over often, always bringing money to help us get caught up with the bills as well as to buy food. He helped us with our homework, played games with us and stayed with us, so that our mother could have some time to go out and have time to herself.

Joe invited us to Thanksgiving dinner and then he invited us to move into his house with him. The house was four times as big as our apartment. Instead of five of us boys in one room, we were one or two to a room.

I was at the age when I could not go to my mother with all of my problems and questions and I needed to talk to a man. Joe was always there. He built up my self-esteem and helped me to realize that it was not my fault that my Dad left us.

When I was almost twelve, Joe told me all about the birds and the bees. He not only taught me the correct anatomy and physiology, but he taught me about relationships, about treating women with respect at all times. He taught me that it was ok to be a virgin and I shall remain one until I get married.

Joe has helped me to become the man I am today. I have integrity, character and compassion because of what Joe has taught me. Joe was the person that encouraged us to help others in need as much as we could. Joe inspired us to start 'Kids Caring for Kids', which is now statewide and someday will go nationwide.

Joe has been there to save our lives on more than one occasion. When my brother Paul was two, all of us boys were hiking with Joe in the mountains when Paul stepped into a hole and broke his leg. Joe splinted his leg, stopped the bleeding and carried him over two miles down the mountain, drove us to the hospital and stayed with Paul the entire time.

When my mother went into labor a month early, the ambulance took too long to get to our house, Joe delivered my twin sisters and saved their lives, and then he saved my mother's life on the way to the hospital. If Joe had not been with her, she would have bled to death."

Matt had to stop for a moment because he was getting a bit emotional. He took a drink of water and then he continued. "When I was in high school, I was choking to death in a restaurant and nobody knew what to do. Joe arrived just in time and saved my life with the Heimlich maneuver. If he had not arrived when he did, I would not be here today. I am certain of that.

Joe has helped teach us how to drive, to cook and be resourceful. He has taught us to take responsibility for our actions. He has disciplined us when necessary and he has always made us feel good about ourselves,

He has taught Sunday school, has been scoutmaster for the Boy Scouts, Cookie Dad for the Girl Scouts, and he has coached soccer, Little League, and track. He has been our teacher, our support system and our friend. He has helped our mother to teach us manners, and helped us to become upstanding citizens.

Joe does everything that a father does and so much more. No one has ever deserved the title of 'Father of the Year' or 'Father of the Decade' more than Joe Williams."

When Matt finished reading his essay, everybody in the auditorium was on their feet giving Joe a standing ovation. Matt gave Joe a big hug and both of them were misty eyed. Mary and the rest of the kids went up on stage to hug and congratulate Joe.

Matt went back to the microphone and asked for silence. He once more addressed the crowd. "Joe and my sister Mary have had feelings for each other for quite a few years, but Joe never acted on those feelings until Mary turned eighteen. They have been dating for the past four years, and as of two days ago, Joe and Mary are engaged to be married. Even though Joe will become my brother-in-law, he will always be more of a father to me." After more applause, Mr. Johnson presented the award to Joe and asked him to say a few words.

Joe stood up and looked out to the audience and then at his family and then back out to the audience and then he began to speak. "This award is a great honor, but it doesn't mean anything compared to Matt's essay, or the love I receive from my 'family'.

Everything I am today, I owe to my parents; Tom and Sarah Williams. They taught me to 'love, honor and cherish God, my family, friends and life itself'.

After my parents died, I felt alone and empty inside. God had plans for me. He put the Rogers family and me together because we needed each other. God always has been and always will be the most important part of my life." After more applause, everybody went into a reception hall to celebrate Joe's award.

As Joe and his family mingled with the guests, several of the guests who had known Joe's parents, told Joe how much he looked like them and how much they missed his parents.

Later, while Joe was talking to Betty and Mary, he saw his grandparents approaching from across the room. When they came up to Joe, he introduced them to Betty and Mary. "Mr. and Mrs. Williams, this is my fiancé; Mary Rogers and her mother. Ladies, these are my grandparents." After exchanging pleasantries, Betty and Mary excused themselves so that Joe and his grandparents could talk.

There were a few moments of awkward silence and then Joe's grandfather spoke; "Joe, I wish that I could go back in time and undo things, but I can't. I am so very sorry for the way I treated your mother and father. I was wrong. At the time, I did not think your mother was good enough for your father. I was wrong. It seems like they were perfect for each other.

They must have been proud of the way you turned out. Mary is a very sweet young lady. If there is anything that the two of you need, just let us know. We have done very well over the years and we are worth several million dollars."

When Joe heard that offer, he got very angry. He responded, "I know how much you are worth and you can keep all of your money. I have over ten times your wealth.

The difference between us is that I use my money to help those less fortunate than I am. I donate more money to charity each year than you have altogether.

My father never wanted your money. All he ever wanted was your respect, love and approval. When you cut him off from the family, you changed him forever. My mother may not have been from a prominent family, or from a rich family, but she was kind. She was the most gentle, caring, compassionate woman that I have ever met. If you had just given her a chance, you would have found that out.

I can forgive you, but if you seek my parents' forgiveness, you will have to get it from them."

Joe saw how old his grandparents looked and he felt sorry for them. All of that money and they only used it to maintain their status in society. Joe shook their hands and then he walked away.

Joe found Betty and gave her a big hug. "What was that for?" she asked. "For being a great mother to your children and for accepting me into your family." said Joe.

Sarah and Becca went up to Joe and handed him a card they had made for him. Joe opened it up and read it 'To the best father in the whole wide world! We love you! Love, Sarah and Becca.' Joe had a big smile on his face. He hugged the girls and said; "I love you too!"

Joe felt so very happy and contented. He had a wonderful family and that was what mattered- family.

Chapter 28

The next six months were very busy for Joe and Mary. They had begun making plans for their wedding, to be held the following June. They had obtained permission to be married in Mission San Francisco de Assisi; a mission church that was over two hundred years old. Pastor Timothy Jacobs from their church had agreed to perform the ceremony.

Eve Adams, a good friend of Mary's from College was going to be her Maid of Honor and Matt would be Joe's Best Man. Mark and Luke would be groomsmen and John and Paul would be ushers. Sarah and Becca would be bridesmaids and Betty would give Mary away.

Besides planning the wedding, Mary had started working at SaraCom in the finance office. Joe was also busy at SaraCom, as well as with his duties as coach, scoutmaster, tutor, etc...

In November, the Rogers family received a big surprise. It was Thanksgiving week and Matt had finished his classes early and arrived home from college, two days before Thanksgiving.

There was a knock on the door and when Sarah answered it, she saw a man standing on the porch. He asked Sarah what her name was and when she answered, he told Sarah that he was her father.

Sarah got scared and slammed the door. She started screaming. Matt ran downstairs and asked her what was wrong. Sarah told Matt; "There is a man on the porch who says he is my father". Matt felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up on end.

Very slowly, he opened the door. For the first time in over nine years, Matt was staring into the face of his father, James Rogers.

"Hello Matt" said his father, and tried to hug Matt. Matt quickly stuck out his hand and said; "For a long time after you left, I used to pray that you would come back home, but I realized you weren't coming back, so I gave up on that dream. Why don't you leave us alone? You are no longer part of this family." Jim started to go into the house, but Matt pushed him back onto the porch.

"When I was eleven, you made me feel like I was nothing, but I'm not that kid anymore. I am not afraid of you anymore. I do not need you anymore. Why don't you just go away?"

Joe, Mary and Betty had just come in from the backyard and when they heard arguing, they went into the living room. When Betty saw Jim standing there, she got chills. She had never expected to see him again, especially after all of these years. Betty had been granted a divorce two years earlier, claiming he had deserted the family.

Jim was trying to reason with Matt and tried to apologize to him. That just made Matt angrier. "How dare you show your face here after what you did? You took all of our money, left us with mounds of debt. We lost our house because of you. Now, you come around and expect us to forget all of that and welcome you home with open arms?"

Betty thought this would be a good time to step in and stop Matt from killing Jim. As Betty walked into the room, she said "Hello Jim. It's been a long time".

Jim said hello and when he saw Mary, he said, "Is that my little Mary?"

Mary did not answer him. She just introduced Joe "This is Joe Williams, my Fiancé." Joe and Jim shook hands. It was a very awkward moment for everyone in the room.  
Within, the next few minutes, the rest of the family came into the room, Mark, Luke, John, Paul and Becca. Betty told everyone to leave so that she could talk to Jim.

Joe saw how upset Matt was and he convinced Matt to go for a drive with him. Joe told Matt to go a little easier on his father. "He can't erase the past nine years, but he's here now. You don't have to have a father-son relationship with him, but at least be act civil towards him."

Matt did not want Joe to lecture him, not now. Still very angry, Matt turned his anger towards Joe. "Look who's talking about forgiveness and compassion? How are your grandparents, Joe? Why haven't you invited them over for dinner? You have no right to give me advice about my dad when you won't even talk to your grandparents."

Joe did not say anything. He thought about what Matt had said and he knew what he said was true. The rest of the drive was silent. When they returned home, Joe went to make a phone call, and Matt drove off in his own car.

Jim knew that it would be hard to return home and ask for forgiveness from his family. He had been running from his past, for nine years now. His gambling had led to drinking and soon he had lost everything. He could no longer hold a job, and he had no money and no place to live. He had no family or friends. He had hit rock bottom. Jim knew that if he did not get some help that he would be dead within a year.

At a homeless shelter in Los Angeles, he finally reached out for help. He dried out and started going to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings as well as Gamblers Anonymous.

Over the past year, Jim had been trying to sort out his life. Part of his treatment, was seeking forgiveness from all those he had hurt. For Jim this was the hardest thing in the world. He thought death would be easier, but he finally decided to go find his family and try to atone for his mistakes. When he finally found the address where his family lived, he kept postponing the visit. Finally, he realized he could wait no longer.

Betty listened to Jim tell his story of his pitiful life. She told him that it would be a long time before the children could ever trust him or accept him again, if they did at all. Paul was only two when he left and the twins had never known him. To the three of them, Jim was a total stranger.

Betty felt sorry for Jim and invited him to Thanksgiving dinner. She told Jim to be patient with the children and give them time.

Matt drove around for an hour trying to clear his head. Finally, he drove to the church and found Pastor Jacobs in his office. The two of them talked for over an hour.

Pastor Jacobs let Matt talk for over 30 minutes, to get all of his anger out. Then he started counseling him. After they were finished, Matt realized that deep down he still loved his father and that was why he had constantly prayed for him all of these years. What Matt thought was hatred, was actually his anger towards his father.

Pastor Jacobs told Matt to take his time reconnecting with his father. "If you are meant to strengthen your bonds with your father, then it will happen," he said.

Later that day, after Jim had left, Betty had a talk with Matt and Mary. She told them that she had invited Jim over for Thanksgiving dinner. She told them what Jim had told her about his life's downward spiral. She asked them if they could put aside their feelings for the day and be civil towards their father. Matt and Mary both said they would try.

Chapter 29

Betty, Joe, Mary, Matt, Mark and Luke were up early on Thanksgiving, to start working on dinner. Luke was in charge of the meal. Even though Luke was only fifteen, he could out cook everyone else, including Joe and Betty. He even had a part time job as assistant chef at Francisco's.

The year before, Luke overheard Betty talking about deep-frying the turkey. Luke was trying to get the family to eat healthier and he protested. He staged a takeover of the kitchen and cooked the entire meal by himself.

His meal was so healthy and delicious, that this year he was given total control of the meal, and everyone else assisted him.

Sarah and Becca made placemats and name cards for each person. There were two tables set up for the dinner. Joe told them that there would be thirteen people for dinner. When they asked Joe who the last two guests were, so they could make out their name cards, Joe told them that he would make them out himself.

About an hour before dinner, Jim arrived, bringing a floral centerpiece for the table. He tried to make small talk with the children without making them angry. Matt and Mary felt uncomfortable sitting in the room with him.

Ten minutes later, the last two guests arrived. Matt was surprised to see Joe's grandparents walk into the room. Joe shook hands with his grandfather, gave his grandmother a quick hug, and then introduced them to everyone else.

Finally, it was time to sit down to dinner. At the larger of the two tables, Betty sat at one end and Matt at the other end. On one side of the table were Joe, Mary, Luke and Mark. On the other side were Jim, and Tom and Lucille Williams. John, Paul, Sarah and Becca sat at the smaller table.

Everybody held hands and they all said what they were thankful. Joe's grandparents said they were thankful that Joe was giving them a chance to be part of his life. Betty was thankful that her whole family was together for the holiday. Joe was thankful for his family, especially Mary. Matt said that he was thankful that his father was trying to turn his life around.

The dinner was excellent and Luke got compliments from everyone. As the dinner progressed, Joe began to feel more comfortable around his grandparents and Matt was being polite to his father.

After dinner, Betty and the younger children cleaned up, so that Mary and Matt could talk with Jim and Joe could talk with his grandparents.

Joe told his grandparents about his parents and they told him stories about Joe's father when he was a boy. It would take a long time for Joe and Matt's emotional wounds to heal

Over the next several months, Joe grew closer to his grandparents. For Jim, it was more difficult. He was making progress with the four older children, but the four youngest were still scared of him, because they barely knew him. Joe had been more of a father to them than Jim.

Joe helped Jim get a job with a reputable accounting firm in San Francisco, and Jim bought a small house in town to show his kids that he planned to stay this time. Joe paid back all of the money that Jim had embezzled from his previous job, with interest, and they agreed to drop all charges against Jim.

Chapter 30

Joe and Mary were busy making plans for their wedding. Betty was helping as much as she could. Joe wanted the day to be perfect for Mary.

They kept the extravagance to a minimum, but there were some things that Joe spent a little bit more on. He found a designer to work with Mary and Betty to design her wedding dress. He also wanted the Spanish mission to be filled with flowers.

The reception would be held outside, under big white tents, with a dance floor and a band. Francisco's catered the food.

On the morning of their wedding day, the weather was perfect. The sun was sending colorful beams of radiant light down to the earth. The grass was still covered with morning dew and the aroma of wet grass and hyacinth flowers filled the air.

Joe and Matt awoke early and left the house before Mary woke up, so that Joe would not see her before the ceremony. They went to the mission church to make sure all the last minute details had been taken care of.

The church was beautiful. The two hundred year old walls contrasted nicely with hundreds of flowers all throughout the church. Joe and Matt met with Pastor Jacobs to go over any last minute instructions.

When Matt asked Joe if he was nervous, Joe replied, "I'm not nervous, but I am very anxious and excited. I have been waiting for this day my whole life. I love your sister more than anyone or anything in my life.

About an hour later, Betty arrived with Mary and the rest of the family. Betty, Mary Eve, Sarah and Becca went to another part of the church to get ready, while the guys found Matt, Joe, and they started getting ready.

John and Paul escorted the guests to their seats as they arrived. The church was soon filled with people. The ceremony was minutes away. Mary was so excited and nervous, she thought she would faint.

She was wearing something old- a pair of earrings from her grandmother, something new- a pearl necklace that her mother had given her, something borrowed-a handkerchief from Sara, and something blue-a garter belt.

Betty was looking at Mary and had never seen her look more beautiful or happier. After Paul and John had seated everyone else, they escorted Joe's grandparents to their seats and then escorted their father to his seat. Mary told her mother that she wanted her to walk her down the aisle alone, not with her father. Jim understood and respected her decision.

Pastor Jacobs, Joe, Matt, Mark and Luke came into the church through a door near the altar and took their places. The music started playing and the door at the back of the church opened. Slowly, one by one, the ladies entered the church. First, Sarah, then Becca, then Eve; the Maid of Honor came down the aisle. The bridal march started playing and everybody turned around to watch the bride enter.

When Joe saw Mary enter the church, he was awestruck. Mary was so beautiful, in her white gown that she looked like an angel. Joe and Mary were both trying hard not to shed any tears. When Betty and Mary reached the altar, Pastor Jacobs asked, "Who gives this woman in Holy Matrimony?" Betty replied, "I do. "Betty lifted Mary's veil and kissed her on the cheek. Then she placed Mary's hand in Joe's hand, and then went and sat down with Jim.

Matt sang a solo beautifully. After the wedding homily, it was time for the exchanging of vows. Joe watched Mary as she said "I do!" and he almost lost it right there. Then it was Joe's turn. Pastor Jacob turned to Joe and asked him; "Joseph Thomas Williams, do you take Mary Anne Rogers to be your wedded wife, 'to love, honor and cherish' as long as you both shall live?"

As he said those words to Joe, Joe thought he saw his parents standing in front of the altar with a white light surrounding them and big smiles on their faces. He thought that he must be hallucinating, but then he felt a warm feeling in his chest that was radiating from them. They were sending their love to him. As Joe said 'I do!' his parents faded away.

After Joe and Mary had exchanged rings, Pastor Jacobs said; "Joseph and Mary, It is a privilege and an honor to pronounce you husband and wife. Joe, you may now kiss your bride."

When they kissed, Mary and Joe felt so much love fill their hearts that they thought they would burst.

As they turned to face their friends and family, pastor Jacobs said, "I am pleased to introduce Mr. and Mrs., Williams."

The guests cheered as Joe and Mary left the church. Once outside, Joe picked up Mary, swung her around and they kissed again. Then, fifty white doves were released and they flew straight up into the sky and were gone.

The reception lasted several hours, well into the evening. Everyone was having a great time, laughing, singing and dancing. Joe danced with Betty who was now his mother-in-law and Mary danced with her father, though she was not yet ready to resume a father-daughter relationship yet.

Matt and the rest of Mary's siblings had a surprise for Mary and Joe. They performed a few romantic songs for them, with Matt playing the guitar, Mark and Becca played the piano, Luke played the saxophone, John played the drums, Paul played the violin and Sarah played the harp. They all sang as well.

Everybody at the reception really enjoyed their songs, but no one enjoyed them more than Mary and Joe.

During a quiet moment, Betty found Joe and Mary, pulled them aside, and asked Joe if they saw anything unusual during the wedding ceremony.

Joe suddenly got serious and asked her what she saw. Betty was hesitant at first, but then she began; "During your wedding vows, I could have sworn that I two people, a man and a woman standing in front of the altar, right."

Then Mary said, "I saw them also. I didn't say anything because I thought I imagined them"

Joe just stood there, not saying anything for a moment and then he said, "So, it was real. My wish came true." Suddenly, a feeling of warmth, like the one he felt at the wedding, filled his whole body, from head to toe. Mary asked Joe "Who were those people, Joe?"

Joe could barely talk and finally, he got the words out; "Those people, or rather angels, were my parents. It was something I had wished for in my prayers. I wanted my parents to be at our wedding. My prayers were answered." In fact, I think they are with us right now, because I feel their love in my heart."

Joe's voice was quivering as if might start crying. Mary gave him a great big hug, the love that Joe was feeling from his parents flowed into her body as well, and she realized it was his parents' way of telling her that they approved of the marriage and that they loved her as well. They both stood there, holding one another for quite a while.

After Joe and Mary had cut the cake and Mary had tossed the bouquet, they said goodbye to everybody and then they were taken by limousine to the San Francisco Towers Hotel, which was the best hotel in town. They checked into the honeymoon suite and they did not leave the suite until late the next afternoon.

The next evening they headed for the airport. Joe would not tell Mary where they were going on their honeymoon.

She knew that they were leaving the U.S., because she had to get a passport. When they arrived at the airport, Joe finally told Mary what his present for her was.

"Mary, for our honeymoon, we will be going to France, Germany and Italy, spending seven days in each country." Mary was ecstatic, as she had always wanted to travel to those countries.

Their honeymoon seemed like a fairytale. It was very romantic and the weather couldn't have been more perfect. They visited Rome, Venice, and Paris, Versailles and Hamburg as well as several other cities. After three weeks of traveling abroad, they were missing their family and were glad that they were going home.

When they arrived home, Joe had another surprise for Mary. Mary didn't want to move too far away from her family, so while they were gone, part of the second floor had been remodeled. Betty had moved into Joe's old room, and a construction crew came in and connected the master suite with Mary's room into a private suite for the two of them.

The new suite consisted of a master bedroom with private bath, a large living room with a large comfortable couch, a small table with chairs, an entertainment center, and a small kitchen with refrigerator, stove, coffee maker, a cabinet filled with dishes for two. It was like having; their very own apartment within the house.

A door had been added, leading to the outside complete with a private staircase, so that they could come and go at night without disturbing the rest of the family. The project had been finished two days before Joe and Mary returned.

When Joe and Mary arrived to the door that used to lead into Betty's room, Joe picked up Mary and carried her into their apartment. Mary fell in love with it immediately. Betty had decorated it personally using all of Mary's favorite colors. Mary loved being so close to the family, yet also having their privacy. They could help Betty with the younger children and their activities.

Chapter 31

Joe and Mary had a wonderful marriage. They worked together at SaraCom, and they worked together with their charity work. With Mary's expertise in business and Joe's expertise in computers and investments, they set up the Rogers-Williams Foundation whose sole purpose was to help children in California and around the country as well as around the world.

Joe and Mary grew closer every day. They spent a lot of time with their family who were there to share all of their milestones. On their 2nd wedding anniversary, Mary gave Joe the most wonderful gift of all. She told him that she was pregnant with their first child. The baby was due on February 14th. When they told Betty and the rest of the family, they were just as excited as Joe and Mary.

Since they needed another room for the nursery and since Matt had moved out, and Mark was in college, Joe had more remodeling done and had a nursery added to the apartment, with a door leading to the upstairs hallway, so that Betty could have access to the baby when she babysat.

Betty's family was growing up and she was ready to be a grandma. Matt was now twenty-three and had graduated from Columbia University the previous May. He was working as a reporter for the Los Angeles Times. He was engaged to be married to Hannah Alexander, the following year.

Mark was twenty and had just finished his sophomore year at UCLA, where he was on a full baseball scholarship. He was majoring in History with a minor in physical education. He was the star pitcher on the baseball team and many Major League scouts were watching him closely. He had led the team to 2nd place in the national college baseball championship.

Luke was eighteen and had just graduated from high school with top honors. In the fall, he would be attending the California Culinary Academy. His goal was to own his own restaurant by the time he was thirty.

John had just finished his sophomore year of high school. He was an honor student with straight A's. He was a drummer in the high school band; played basketball, and was working on the rank of Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts. Luke and Mark were already Eagle Scouts. He was also a very good golfer.

Paul was fourteen and would be a freshman in the fall. He was also a straight 'A' student and wanted to be a teacher when he got out of college. He played the violin so well that he was accepted into the junior-senior orchestra.

Sarah and Becca were twelve and would start the sixth grade in the fall. They were best friends and were inseparable. Sarah excelled in math and science while Becca did extremely well in art and music. Becca was one of the best pianists under eighteen in San Francisco.

Betty was now fifty years old and was nowhere near retiring from nursing. She was looking forward to being a grandmother.

It had been two and a half years since Jim had returned home to his family. He was doing well at his job and had not gambled or taken a drink in over three years.

His children were now friendly towards him, though not as close as Jim would like them to be. He and Betty were becoming good friends, and now that they would have a grandchild together, they began to see more of each other.

Joe had forgiven his grandparents and they saw a lot of each other. They were looking forward to the birth of their first great grandchild.

Chapter 32

As Mary's pregnancy progressed, she started getting cravings for Chinese food so often; that it was lucky for Joe that San Francisco had many good Chinese restaurants. Mary and Joe began reading as many books about babies and parenting as they could. Even though Joe had helped raise the twins since they were born, he was still nervous about becoming a father of his own child.

As the weeks went by, they worked on the nursery, and started going to Lamaze classes. Mary was glad that she had the Williams-Rogers Foundation to keep her busy. In addition, she was in charge of recruiting teens to help run KCK and get ready for Christmas.

In December of that year, tragedy came to the Rogers' and Williams' families that would that would test their faith to the limits.

It was Christmas Eve and the entire family was at the house for the holidays, Jim, and Joe's grandparents were at the house with the family, and they were all eating breakfast together. Mary suddenly doubled over in pain. "Something's wrong with the baby," she cried out. Joe helped her to the car and drove her to the hospital as quickly and safely as he could. When they got there, the doctor examined her and told them that the baby was in trouble, and that he had to an emergency C-section.

While Mary was in surgery, Joe called home and told everybody what was happening. Joe was very worried. The baby was not due for nine more weeks.

An hour later, the doctor told him that Mary was doing fine and was still in recovery. Joe asked about the baby and the doctor told Joe that their daughter was fighting for her life. She was very small and her lungs and heart were not working as well as they should. There was only a twenty per cent chance of survival.

Joe was with Mary when she woke up from surgery. When Joe told her the news about their daughter, Mary started crying and Joe held her, trying to be strong for both of them. Soon, Joe started falling apart, and he started crying as well.

When Mary was able to sit up, she insisted on being taken to the Neonatal Intensive Care Nursery to see their daughter. Joe wheeled her down to the NICU. She was so tiny, weighing just three pounds. Joe and Mary stayed with their daughter for several hours. As they watched her getting weaker and weaker, Joe and Mary could not stand it any longer.

They went to the hospital chapel to pray. At one end of the chapel was a manger with the baby Jesus in it. That is where Joe chose to pray.

He knelt down and he started praying harder than he had ever prayed before. He told God that he had already lost his parents and he did not want to lose his daughter too.

As Joe looked at the baby Jesus, he said "God, your son was born and had a chance to grow up and help other people. Please give our daughter the same chance." When Joe realized that he was demanding instead of asking, and he added; "God, if you must take our daughter, could you please let my parents take care of her so that she won't be alone?

All of a sudden, Joe turned around and saw his entire family standing around him praying as well. Joe sat beside Mary and held her hand and they prayed together. Tears were streaming down their faces. They prayed as hard as they could. Jim was holding Betty's hand and they were praying too. So were Joe's grandparents, and all of Mary's siblings.

Becca and Sarah went over to the manger and prayed to baby Jesus. Becca started praying aloud. "Dear Jesus, if you let Joe and Mary's baby live, we will never ask for another thing ever again, not for birthdays or Christmas." Becca and Sarah were holding hands as they prayed together. Just then, a clock in the chapel started tolling midnight. It was now Christmas Day.

That is when the miracle happened. Becca and Sarah started singing Silent Night, at the same time. That song had never been sung so sweetly, or with such feeling as it was by those two twelve year old girls.

Joe and Mary joined in and soon, everyone there was singing Silent Night to baby Jesus.

After they finished singing the second verse, two human forms; a man and a woman appeared beside Baby Jesus.

The woman spoke to Joe. "Joe, throughout your life, you have shown your faith to God, to your family, and to many others. You have given faith, hope and charity to many children in your life. God has heard your prayers and your daughter shall not die.

God has plans for your daughter. She, as well as your future daughters shall live full lives and they will do wonderful things in their lifetimes. They shall follow in yours and Mary's footsteps in helping others and healing their sorrows."

Tears were pouring out of Joe's eyes as he fell to his knees to thank God. Then, Joe looked up at the angels and he spoke to them, "I miss you both so much."

The angel answered him by saying; "We never left you Joe. We have been watching over you, as well as your new family. We will always be with you and with your daughters as well."

Becca asked Joe if he knew the angels. Joe replied; "Yes, I do. These angels are my parents."

Then Joe's father addressed Joe's grandparents. "We have forgiven you, Mother and Father, and Joe has forgiven you. God has also forgiven you. Now, you have to forgive yourselves.

Then Joe's parents looked around the room and said, "There is so much love in this room. God is pleased with all of you. You have loved, honored and cherished him, as well as others around you. God loves all of you and someday you will be with him in Heaven. Until then, keep the faith."

As the angels started to fade, Joe said, "I love you both so much." They answered "We love you too Joe!"

As the angels disappeared, a nurse entered the chapel all excited and said that a miracle had happened. Their daughter was getting stronger and was crying. Joe looked at Mary and said, "We know. Our angels told us".

The doctors told Joe and Mary that their daughter was getting stronger, but would have to stay there for several more weeks.

Then a nurse asked Joe if they had a name picked out for her. Joe looked at Mary and she nodded. Joe turned to the nurse and said "Her name is Faith; Faith Elizabeth Williams.

Faith can move mountains and I know that Faith will move more than mountains in her lifetime."

Then the nurse smiled and said, "I just thought of something, "A miracle on Christmas Day saved the life of the daughter of Joseph and Mary." Joe thanked the doctors and nurses and told them that Faith would be fine. "We have God's word on it". It was the best Christmas that the family ever had, or would have after that.
Chapter 33

Faith continued to grow each day. Joe and Mary spent as much time with her, holding her as much as possible and loving her with all of their hearts and souls. Five weeks later, they took Faith home with them. She went home to the same house that Joe had first entered as a small child, several years earlier.

With all of the love in that house, Faith continued to thrive and grow. Two years later, Joe and Mary had a second daughter whom they named Hope, and a year later, a third and final daughter whom they named Charity.

Mary and Joe taught Faith, Hope and Charity to be compassionate, kind and caring. They taught them to love, honor and cherish God, family, friends and life itself. Joe and Mary knew that their daughters would bring faith, hope and charity to the world.

THE END
Epilogue

Over the years, the Rogers family and the Williams family continued to grow larger, and they left their mark on the world.

The entire family gathered at the house where Joe had lived all of his life, on Betty's 90th birthday. Betty had finally retired from Nursing at the age of seventy. She now devotes all of her time spoiling her grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Jim remarried Betty three years after he came to San Francisco. Matt gave Betty away at her wedding and the marriage had all of her children's blessings.

Jim has spent the past thirty-five years trying to make up for his mistakes in the past. He stood by Betty and helped her through her most trying ordeal, when she got breast cancer at age sixty-three. Jim never gambled again and he has not had a drop of alcohol in over forty years.

Jim and Betty recently celebrated their 38th anniversary of their second marriage. They now have twenty-one grandchildren and thirty-eight great grandchildren.

Joe is now sixty-nine and Mary is sixty-five. With Joe's gift for investing stocks, he could have become a billionaire by now, but as fast as their money came in, they would put it into their foundation to help children. They recently sold SaraCom and now spend all of their time with family, and of course, helping others in need.

They are still very active in the Rogers-Williams Foundation. They donated quite a lot of money to hospitals and the arts over the years, but donating to children's charities was always their top priority.

Kids Caring for Kids, did become a nationwide charity, and variations of it spread to countries on every continent. The Rogers and Williams families are still very involved with it to this day.

After Faith, Hope and Charity set out on their own, Joe and Mary missed having children around, so they opened their home to foster children, mostly troubled teenagers.

To date, they have taken in over seventy foster children. They put all of them through college. They keep in touch with all of them and consider them part of their family.

Joe and Mary have also set up ten nursing scholarships throughout the state of California, known as the Elizabeth Rogers Nursing Scholarships.

Hope is now thirty-eight and recently took over as director of the Williams-Rogers Foundation, now that Joe and Mary have retired. She is married and has two daughters.

Faith is forty, is married, and has one son and one daughter. After graduating from Medical School, she went into medical research and has spent the past several years looking for a cure for Aids.

She and her fellow researchers may have come up with the cure, which is currently being tested. If it works, she will help to save millions of lives.

Charity attended the seminary and is now a pastor at a Lutheran church with the biggest congregation in San Francisco. She is married with two sons.

Mark is now sixty. He graduated from UCLA with one degree in History and another in Physical Education. He led the UCLA baseball team to national championships his junior and senior years.

After college, he was signed by the San Francisco Giants and played baseball with them for eleven years, until a shoulder injury forced him to retire, but not before helping the Giants win two World Series.

He had offers from several universities to coach their baseball teams, but he wanted to give back to the community where he grew up, so he started teaching History and coaching baseball at his old high school, where he has been for the last twenty-seven years.

He has also been working on a book about the history of San Francisco, which will be published soon.

He is married and has two sons, two daughters and five grandchildren.

Luke is fifty-eight. He finished Chef School and spent a year in Paris working under some of the world's famous chefs.

He then spent a few more years in school to earn a business degree. For a graduation present, Joe gave him half ownership of "Francisco's which under Luke's management has become one of the best restaurants in the city, and has been given a five star rating by several restaurant critics from around the world. He is now the head chef and sole owner.

He specializes in gourmet meals, which are also healthy. He has written three cookbooks, including one specifically designed for dyslexics, all of which have been on the bestseller lists.

He is married with two daughters and three grandchildren.

John is fifty-six. He attended Stanford University and then Harvard Law School, where he met his wife. One month after they graduated from law school, they became parents of a son.

John was overwhelmed and fell in love with him immediately. He could not bear the thought of putting him in day care, so he decided to do legal contracts out of his home and became a Stay-at-Home Dad.

His wife became a partner in a successful law practice in San Francisco. They loved children so much, that they had five more children, all boys. John was very involved in his sons' lives, from coaching Little League and soccer, to chaperoning field trips, to being scoutmaster.

He was a member of the PTA for several years, including two terms as president. He served six years on the local school board and after his children were older, he was elected to the California State Senate, where he has pushed through major legislation to help fix problems in the school system. Besides their six sons, they also have eleven grandchildren.

Paul, now fifty-four, graduated from UCLA with a degree in Elementary Education and has taught first grade for the past twenty-three years. He is married and has one son and two grandchildren.

After attending Stanford University for four years, Sarah, now fifty-one, was accepted to Johns Hopkins Medical School, where she graduated top of her class.

While in medical school, she was leaning towards a career in Cardiology, but when her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, she switched to Oncology and has dedicated her life to fighting breast cancer.

She is still single, but is a terrific aunt to her many nephews and nieces.

Becca, or Rebecca Rogers Johnson, as she is now known, also fifty-one, was torn between a career in nursing, like her mother, or music.

Betty made her realize that music was her true calling and that it was truly a gift from God. She went on to attend Julliard School of Music.

She is now a concert pianist and teaches piano, part-time to gifted students at Stanford. She has composed and recorded music which is played in hospitals, to help patients recover in a more peaceful and serene environment. She is married and has one daughter and four grandchildren.

Matt Rogers worked his way up from cub reporter to editor of the Los Angeles Times. Though he is now sixty-three, he plans to stay with the Times for several more years. He won a Pulitzer Prize at age forty. He lectures at colleges around the country.

Matt has written several novels, and recently, he published a novel titled "To Love, Honor and Cherish" a story that is based on the life of his own family. He dedicated it to his mother in honor of the wonderful job as mother and grandmother. The book was published in time for her ninetieth birthday. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife of thirty-nine years, Hannah. They have four daughters and seven granddaughters.

As the family gathered, the love in the house was very powerful. They continue to live by the one rule that Joe's parents taught him so many years ago; 'to love, honor and cherish; God, family, friends and life.

