#Family Day Care Stafford

[reidscanehand]

I Remember Halloween

Pairing: Spencer Reid x fem!Reader

Category: Fluff/Comfort

Warnings: mentions of burnout and anxieties

Based on a single tiktok and this song

~ More and more I’ll catalogue my doubts ~

You could see the signs. Hell, you’d always been able to see the signs. Even when you and Spencer weren’t dating and were just co-workers, you’d been able to see the signs. You don’t see how anyone could miss any of Spencer’s tells, honestly, though he was terribly good at masking them when he wanted to. However, since semi-retiring from the BAU and focusing more on teaching, Spencer had been less careful, less guarded. It would annoy him if you said so, but you delighted in it - the openness, the guard finally down fully. Suffice it to say that when your adorable husband came home two weeks in a row, exhausted even after only teaching one class, you recognized it as burnout, even if he didn’t. Or wouldn’t - self care had never been Spencer’s strong suit. Which is why the element of surprise is entirely necessary, no matter how drastic it may feel. It was incredibly helpful that, despite living through a pandemic working in education and being a genius, your husband still is an abysmally precious mess when it comes to technology.

You’d originally thought to do a Friday, but with various friend and family celebrations almost every weekend until the end of the year, it made more sense - and frankly made it more fun - to cancel Spencer’s classes for a day and play hooky a little.

It’s a bright and slightly rainy Thursday morning - random, but purposefully so - in September. Your husband’s alarm goes off and he leans over, pressing a kiss to your temple, before getting up and taking a shower. Every so often, you’d join him in the shower, but not today. Today you get up and head to the kitchen.

You’d loved Spencer’s old apartment, but when the two of you moved in together, especially after the events of his last few somewhat traumatizing years with the BAU, a change felt necessary. The two bedroom, two bath bungalow you two found just outside of Stafford, Virginia was just as charming as Spencer’s old place. Antique, but modern enough to have better security than his old building (he is understandably a stickler for safety). The kitchen features windows looking out into your small backyard, Spencer planted a tree last year and you’re sure it was in order to watch the leaves change as fall arrives. The tips of the leaves are just beginning to yellow, the light rain a perfect background for the day you have planned. You turn on the stove and oven and open the fridge, pulling out a can of pumpkin spice cinnamon rolls and the package of turkey bacon. You begin cooking and you can hear your husband start getting ready and, just as you thought it would, the smell of the food draws him away from his typical morning routine (get dressed, make coffee, grab a granola bar if he remembers to) and brings him to the kitchen.

“Is there a reason,” he asks from the doorway, “that it smells…like, um-“

“Like fall?” you ask, smiling over your shoulder at him as you flip the turkey bacon in the pan. Spencer grins and you turn back to the food.

“Well, yeah,” Spencer says. “You planning a fun day alone?”

You wince a little at the small hint of jealousy you hear in his voice, thrilled that your response is, “No, not alone.”

“Oh,” he replies, a little shocked. “Is someone coming ov-“

“Nope,” you reply cheerfully, grabbing a mitt and pulling the cinnamon rolls out of the oven.

“Wait…wait, what?” Spencer questions, totally not distracted by you bending over like that.

“Come on, lovey,” you tease, turning to face him fully. “Put the pieces together.”

He stares at you for a moment and then looks almost overwhelmingly sad, “Honey, I have three classes today, I can’t-“

“About that,” you cut him off quietly. He arches a brow at you, but you cross to the end of the kitchen island, pulling out Spencer’s university laptop and opening it, clicking to his classes’ dashboard page on the school’s site and turning it around slowly, chewing on your lip just a little nervously.

“Dear Students,” Spencer reads after popping on his glasses. “Classes are cancelled until Monday due to slight illness on my part. Have a great long weekend - be sure to read ahead for Monday!”

There’s a slightly too long silence that makes you just a bit nervous.

“I know it might be a bit of an overstep, but you’ve just seemed so…so burned out lately and-“ you’re cut off as Spencer moves to stand right in front of you.

“You cancelled my classes for me?” he asks, a small smile poking at the corner of his mouth.

“Yes,” you reply.

“So that we could…do what, exactly?” He attempts to keep his smile at bay, but is nearly beaming.

“Well,” you smile, “I thought we could eat some pumpkin spice cinnamon rolls and bacon and, I don’t know, maybe get really cozy on our super comfortable couch and watch Hocus Pocus, Corpse Bride, and Practical Magic? Maybe throw in Crimson Peak if we’re still going strong?”

“Just to clarify, you realized I was burned out and decided to plan a cozy fall movie day to make me feel better?” Spencer asks, almost incredulous, wrapping his arms around your waist.

“That would be it, yes,” you nod, wrapping your arms around his neck.

“Damn,” he mutters quietly, looking down at you.

“What?” you giggle.

“Nothing,” Spencer beams, turning his head and eyeing your lips, “I just definitely married the perfect woman.”

Your laugh is quickly quashed by his lips on yours.

~ I remember Halloween. ~

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[beardedmrbean]

Infected blood victims could each receive payments of more than £2 million under a compensation scheme announced by the government.

Ministers set out the figures as they unveiled the proposed scheme following publication of the public inquiry's report into the scandal on Monday.

That said authorities covered up the scandal and exposed victims to unacceptable risks.

The government said the first payments will be made by the end of the year.

In the meantime, it said it would make extra interim payments of £210,000 over the summer.

Those will be to 4,000 victims who have already received payments of £100,000.

But the government said compensation would eventually be made available to a much wider group of people, including to the family and loved-ones of those who have been infected. This could include the children or parents - the first time they will have received any financial payment.

The total cost could eventually be in the region of £10 billion.

The infected blood inquiry has been called the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS.

More than 30,000 people were infected with HIV and hepatitis C from 1970 to 1991 by contaminated blood products and transfusions.

About 3,000 of them have since died - many haemophiliacs given infected blood products as part of their treatment.

'Five criteria'

The compensation due will be judged under five criteria:

injury and harm caused

social impact from stigma and isolation

impact on autonomy and private life, such as not being able to have children

care costs

financial loss

The government said payments would depend on individual circumstances, but typical payouts for those infected with HIV, or for HIV plus hepatitis, would be in excess of £2 million.

Those with a hepatitis infection causing liver damage would get around £1 million.

Those who face extreme care costs or who were very high earners before infection could get even more.

The figures released also give examples of compensation awards for the family members of those infected.

The partner of someone infected with HIV who is still alive today, for example, should expect to receive around £110,000, while a child could get £55,000.

If their loved-one has died and they were financially dependent on them, annual payments are available.

The scheme will be administered by a new body called the Infected Blood Compensation Authority, which will be led initially by Sir Robert Francis, who chaired the inquiry into the Stafford Hospital scandal.

It is proposed that the compensation will be taken as a lump sum or series of payments. The plans will be consulted on over the coming weeks.

From next April, the compensation scheme will effectively replace the existing financial support scheme - versions of which have been in place since 1989. In recent years they have been worth more than £40,000 a year to some, such as those who have been infected or, if they have died while benefitting, their partners.

Announcing the details in the House of Commons, paymaster general John Glen repeated the apology made by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday, saying the victims had suffered "unimaginable pain".

He said the publication of the public inquiry's report was a "day of great humility for everyone".

He hopes the compensation package will be welcomed: "The infected blood community know their cries for justice have been heard."

Des Collins, of Collins Solicitors, which is representing over 500 families, said the news was a "positive step and broadly encouraging".

But he criticised the government for not acting earlier, pointing out they were told to act on compensation by the public inquiry two years ago.

"The government has wasted valuable time. Why the promised further consultation has not happened sooner is also bewildering, but better late than never."

Jason Evans, of the campaign group Factor 8, said he would need to carefully consider the compensation sums before commenting.

But he said he was concerned about the wait some face given the interim payments are only available to certain individuals.

"Today's announcement will be a gut-punch to most bereaved families, who have still received no compensation at all."

[thelongforgottenrealm]

LADY CIARA VARMONT / JODIE COMER

♛ Age: (26) ♛ Relationships: Bartholomew Varmont (father), Eoin Varmont (brother), Roderick Varmont, Alaric Varmont, Guinevere Varmont, Arthur Varmont, Sebastian Varmont, Edmund Varmont, Cassandra Varmont (cousins), Marian Varmont, Amira Varmont (cousin's wives), Godfrey Calanion (fiancé), Tristan Calanion (future brother-in-law), Cecily Hamlen (lady-in-waiting/best friend), Ronan Frost (target/interest/complication), Cillian Frost, Percy Reaves, Saoirse Frost (fellow resistance members/friends/complications), Eilinora Stafford, Aria Stafford (friends)

ciara's life has gotten wildly out of control!!!

during ciara's journey to the capitol city in astaira, her caravan was overtaken by members of the astairian resistance, who had hoped to gain a hostage of royal blood

at the time, ciara pretended to be one of her own handmaidens and while they took everything they had of value, they let them all go unharmed as they "had no quarrel with servants"

ciara made it back to her family safely and while a small army had been dispatched to find the criminals, still no traces of them were found

that is, until ciara met percy reaves and realized why it was that she found him so familiar

she might have turned him in, if she hadn't managed to befriend him first and, having done so, she was convinced that he had simply fallen into the wrong crowd

one day she confided in him that she remembered him from when she was kidnapped, but that she did not mean to turn him in and told him that she believed the resistance were in the right & also that her mom was born here and she and her bro are both half astairian, themselves

percy believed her reasoning and began to trust her and when she ventured to offer that she might be able to pass them all information, ciara first began to infiltrate the resistance

it was some time before percy and the rest trusted her enough to allow her to meet some of the other members, but eventually that day came

while she did not know where their hideout was/their true numbers, she knew that she now had some valuable information, but she didn't know quite enough yet to go roderick w/ this

but she knew she needed help and she also needed someone to pass what information she had gained onto -- and so she decided to go to godfrey

she was not surprised to find that he was, at first, completely against the idea of placing her in this situation, but his ambition ended up outweighing his other concerns (he knew that if he had such a hand in overturning the resistance that has evaded, thus far, the emporer's men, the rewards would be great

his compromise has been that he must know everything she learns and he wishes to know each time she meets them/where she goes/what time, etc. etc.

while ciara started this entire operation with the desire to aid her father and cousin in settling the unrest astaira has faced since the conquest, she's beginning to care for the resistance members she's met -- as well as having formed friendships with the two imprisoned staffords -- resulting in her some days she's not sure roderick is in the right

she knows she is still being kept an arm's length from the resistance given her ties to the varmonts (she has yet to be taken to their hideaway and has been made to believe that the network is far more advance than it actually is and that this group here is only a small fraction of their numbers), but she also is happy for it, for she knows all there is to know, she will have to make up her mind on what side she is on, once and for all ...

TAKEN BY LIZZY.

[astoryiwouldtell]

Thistlemas Through The Ages, Chapter 1 — "Visitations"

Synopsis

A springtime holiday spectacular. This'll be a series dedicated to the holiday of Thistlemas, which is celebrated in Inglenook on the 15th day of the Month of Blossoms, the second month of spring. Since the day's coming up for our equivalent month, I thought there was no better way to illustrate the holiday than with actual specials and storylines set during examples of the day throughout history.

I'm looking forward to doing more for other holidays in the Other Realms, so we might have a full stable of holiday specials to look forward to as the year progresses.

AO3 | Tumblr | Wikidot

It was the year 1966, and the Strongman hadn't disappeared quite yet. A lot of things hadn't happened quite yet for the people of Inglenook, and a lot of things were going to change in the years after that — but for two specific people, it was a time of peace in their troubled, strange lives.

Grace Morgan and Beatrice Prescott had been through too much together, and separately. Grace's memories of her fateful family trip to Adventure Fair in 1959 had just begun to fade, while Beatrice had been living on the streets because her father didn't like that she was a psychic and a fortune teller.

They'd been living in an abandoned complex for a few months now, and in that particular year of 1966, they decided to attend a Thistlemas party together.

It was, as these things go, on the 15th day of the Month of Blossoms. Technically, though, the party was the night before and lasted well into the morning.

Beatrice heard about the party first, as she was aware of all the special, personal, hidden-away events the cool kids in Inglenook tended to love.

A street wizard named Pierce Stafford was holding the party, and it would be in the woods outside the city of Creedley, where they were all staying that year. Weirdos and witches and all types of hippies were invited, if they only knew how to read the signs and flyers he had put up, glamoured in codes and veiled with secrets as they were.

So, on the night of the party, Grace and Beatrice headed out — and had the time of their lives, singing and dancing like forest nymphs gathered around a shrine of an elder spirit.

Beatrice did most of the dancing. Grace never felt like it very much, especially during that time in her life, where she was too worried about losing her tough, care-for-nothing, emotionless exterior that had gotten her through her trauma so far, but she certainly enjoyed watching Beatrice put herself into it.

Their party even had a visitation of firefliers, which were small, pixie-like light-creatures that could leave behind trails of aetheric mist as they flew, appearing like darting orbs of rainbow fire throughout the party.

****

The next day, Beatrice woke up with a terrible headache, and Grace was left to look after her.

"Why did you let me dance that much?" Beatrice groaned, as the sun tried desperately to shine through the blankets Grace had stuffed over the windows.

"Because it was Thistlemas, Bee," Grace said. "Anyway, you wanted to."

"So if I wanted to jump off a cliff, you'd let me do that too?"

Grace thought about it for a moment. "Probably. Yes."

Beatrice tossed a pillow at her. "Screw off, no you wouldn't."

"I definitely would."

"You're the most horrible witch in the world, you know that?"

"I know. But at least you're here to keep me on the right path."

Grace and Beatrice would be called to join the 'Lonum Wars soon after that. Only Beatrice ended up staying; during their first few weeks of training, Grace had a meltdown and had to be sent home to recover, as it had brought up far too much of her past trauma for her to be useful in the Other Realm they'd be fighting in.

After the war was over, in 1973 or 1974, Beatrice tried to find Grace again, and they were almost on the right path back to a sense of normalcy. But it was never the same after that, especially after Grace began having dreams of the Black Stag, the Stag that drew her inexorably toward her destiny...toward her childhood home in the Hinterlands...and toward Grimstead, the shadow-city, in 1980, where she would spend much of the next several years of her life, alone, with the gravedigger Gallo Belgrave by her side.

[mydyspraxiablog]

Been Adult dyspraxia not good sport ,or games always be in goal keeper in netball and football.

Sport more challenging for me is swimming and Table tennis and tennis and Badminton but hate losing because was always on lost team I always pick last on round and netball at in school and college too but didn't do well in special school push wheelchair in school. Trying have Job as adult with youth training all well with £40 per week but after leaving Stafford College I working in St Mary ever Wednesday just £20. I lost instead over £20 per week want more money all could have 25p crisp ( which now can't have anymore)

Find really hard keep job incude volunteer job Richard fellowship, PSDA,and Upper morton farm, I was volunteer of Cannock college behalf of Richard fellowship but lost Staffordshire Council link and try Making space but wasn't any good because mum had use phone for me I was told " You can't be volunteer because of mum" at in front of public view in cafe in Stafford and really upset didn't tell mum at first because she was hurt. Charity shops use work all want me do buttons up on clothes having dyspraxia can't do that " I told lazy if didn't do the buttons hate them so glad leave charity shops I won't be returning back too.

Even when working nursing home I hear staff said I don't want work with her she too slow"

I want to find somewhere college crouse working with Animals as missing my dog Darcy Russell Shaw my little lamb tail who die 24 August 2013 and then Annabel die ages of 16 years old 2022 then Sydnee die at age 17 years old really missing then both after Annabel die Sydnee was under happy so was I too under happy wish could bring Annabel from the dead but won't happon but this Christmas is going be hard Christmas for me because second Christmas without Annabel and first Christmas without Sydnee and really missing then and wish there was back sit on my lap You know never gone back in snug how awful Sydnee was put down was see sleep on bookshelf with head drop of bookshelf and her body other side I have pick up Sydnee up try be brave sing going sleep deer Sydnee she was gone then mum told me she wasn't replace anymore cats because she can't have cats and dogs anymore too old.

" I just want spead days with cats and dogs to visit cat cafe and dog cafe in Staffordshire but there isn't any at movements part from charie cat cafe and want going there see the kittens all cats but only downfall you got book going there.

Today been think Eddie one my Patterdale terror dog 🐕 till had rehome because flat was too small for him. I wonder why Eddie is have he die too only visit him twice in Lichfield and miss him badly he was my first born and my first dog as adult dog.

Just bit upset google delete all family photos off pets ,all ex girl friends my brother had.

This Christmas had decide do something different last year sponsor a girl from Compassionuk but this year instead buy Christmas card I send family gift £40 DD to Ethiopia 🇪🇹 but sadly didn't arrived in time for Christmas because want be Christmas surprise for sponsor child family guest be New year I ready writing letter but want put some family photo of Christmas 🎄 was going send photo of me and mum and father Christmas but don't think Ethiopia would understand so going send different photo now.

I did want do secert santa helping uk children but could not active Aid and Compassionuk always asking for card payment not having mobie phone make impossible for me do shopping I don't going Stafford town any more just stayed in did Join Stafford 3UA but sadly ever time meeting was on Monday it was sametime as crouse up Lower Drayton Farm care in Penkridge with help me building the my confidence but hard going back as learner not as volunteer but who want half deaf, Coelic , and dyspraxia volunteer no one would ?

That why have join Dyspraxia foundation membership, Coelicuk, Lone Staffordshire Trefoil Guild, Staffordshire wildlife member , and Stafford 3 UA and Other membership too.

Trying do this for Stafford do something for hidding disabilities but that another story.

Now get back to christmas I enjoy Christmas eve church really enjoy it some of use family left some christmas shops on bus and left our christmas shops but after christmas day I tell you I was luck I was believe God was looking after me but now want is christmas wish sponsor another child want be Compassionuk but can't log on at making me feel frustrated so think sponsor another child with other charity I want more pets.

I want working with Animals in the farm but won't happon going travel around the world could do with hearing dog but don't think family would agree too.

[thedudleywomen]

On This Day 17 Sep 1564, it is believed that Dorothy Devereux was born at Chartley Manor, Staffordshire.

Dorothy was the younger daughter of Walter Devereux, Viscount Hereford and his wife Lettice Knollys, and was named after her paternal grandmother Dorothy Hastings.

Dorothy, along with her siblings, spent her childhood at Chartley - the principal seat of the Devereux family, being a late 15thc Manor House built nearby the abandoned and ruined Chartley Castle, 9 miles north-east of Stafford. The manor was surrounded by acres of woods and parkland, where the children would learn to ride and hunt.

Dorothy was at Chartley when news of Walter's death in Sep 1576 reached the family. Dorothy then spent a year travelling with her mother Lettice and sister Penelope, including regular visits to Kenilworth Castle in which her mother, sister and other family members participated in Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester's hunting parties.

In Feb 1578, as per Walter's will, Dorothy and Penelope were placed under the guardianship of the Earl and Countess of Huntingdon (Robert Dudley's sister Katherine), living primarily in York. It was here that they continued to receive a well-rounded humanist and 'strictly-Puritan' education.

Penelope left for court in 1581, just after turning 18, leaving Dorothy in the care of the Huntingdons; it was around this time that the joint portrait of Dorothy and Penelope was painted, which was later hung at their stepfather's London home of Leicester House - “two ladyes in one picktwer, my La. Rich and my La. Doryt”.

[cathygeha]

REVIEW

Only the Children by S.A. Dunphy

DI Tessa Burns #2

Wonderful addition to an excellent series ~ Can’t wait to see what happens next!

What I liked:

* The seamless transition from the first to second book

* Tessa Burns: parents murdered when she was young, spent years in the child-care system, ex-military, strong, lethal, dedicated, wise, mature, good friend, intriguing, good people skills, team player * Danny Murphy: lost his parents when young, raised in foster system, usually a gentle giant , quiet but also deadly, physically fit, caring, protective * Maggie Doolan: family liaison officer, psychology and sociology degrees, qualified therapist, has cerebral palsy, friends with Tessa since childhood * Pavlov: Maggie’s partner, support dog, a small black-and-white terrier-mix, bright, calming presence, protective

* The three children in potential peril –  really hope they land in a soft spot

* Jim Shiels: Chief Officer in Coast Guard, intelligent, attractive, divorced, attracted to Tessa, potential love interest, hope to see more of him

* Eric Stafford: fixer for big shopping company, silent but deadly, saved the day a few times, wonder if he will show up again

* Being able to hate the bad guys…and there were plenty to hate

* The plot, pacing, setting, and writing * The police procedural aspects and how the case unfolded * That I became invested in the story and cared about the outcome * The hook at the end that introduces the next book * All of it and too many things to list every one of them

What I didn’t like:

* Who and what I was meant not to like

* Thinking about the life the Merrow must have lived

Did I like this book? Yes

Would I read more in this series? Definitely

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC – This is my honest review

5 Stars

BLURB

The little girl stares up at Tessa, trembling so hard her whole body shakes. Her brothers stand clutching her hands, both pale with shock. ‘They told us not to speak,’ she finally whispers. But the terror in her tear-filled eyes tells Tessa all she needs to know…

When a cargo ship runs aground off the Irish coast, the police are horrified to find the captain dead at the helm, the crew missing, and three little red-haired children, terrified but unharmed, locked in the galley kitchen. As an expert detective running a child-centred taskforce, Detective Tessa Burns is called in to lead the case. Despite Tessa’s best efforts, the children won’t reveal a thing – not even their own names. Slowly gaining their trust, Tessa uncovers a deadly secret about their past – and the mystery of their missing parents’ whereabouts – that turns everything she thought she knew on its head. But just as it seems she’s cracked the case, Tessa’s team is attacked one dark night, and the youngest boy is kidnapped yet again. It’s clear the children are still in terrible danger. And when another senseless killing sends shockwaves through her team, Tessa realises the murderer is someone much closer to home than they could have ever imagined. Will she be able to uncover the truth in time, or will it be too late for her, and, most devastating of all, for the children…? A totally unputdownable Irish police procedural with jaw-dropping twists. Perfect for fans of Patricia Gibney, Lisa Regan and Angela Marsons.

[mcmovers]

Efficient Furniture Moving in Stafford, VA: Tips and Tricks for a Smooth Transition

Introduction:

Moving furniture can be a daunting task, requiring careful planning and execution to ensure a smooth transition. Whether you're relocating to a new home in Stafford, VA, or simply rearranging your furniture, proper preparation and organization are key. In this article, we'll explore helpful tips and tricks to make your furniture moving experience in Stafford, VA, efficient and stress-free.

Create a Moving Plan: Before diving into the moving process, take the time to create a comprehensive plan. Identify the furniture pieces you'll be moving, the layout of your new space, and any potential challenges, such as narrow hallways or staircases. Having a clear plan will help streamline the moving process and minimize surprises on moving day.

Measure Doorways and Hallways: Measure the dimensions of doorways, hallways, and staircases in both your current and new locations. This ensures that your furniture can easily pass through without any complications. If certain pieces are too large, consider disassembling them and reassembling them later.

Gather Necessary Supplies: Gather all the necessary supplies before starting the moving process. This includes sturdy boxes, packing materials, bubble wrap, tape, and furniture sliders. Furniture sliders can be particularly helpful for moving heavy items across floors without causing damage.

Disassemble Large Furniture: Large furniture items, such as bed frames, tables, and bookshelves, may need to be disassembled for easier transportation. Keep track of screws and bolts by placing them in labeled bags, making reassembly a breeze. Consult the furniture's manual or online resources for guidance on disassembly.

Wrap and Protect Furniture: To prevent scratches and damage during transit, wrap your furniture in protective materials such as bubble wrap or moving blankets. Pay special attention to fragile items like glass tabletops or delicate wood finishes. Securing furniture properly ensures that it arrives at your new location in the same condition as when it left.

Use Proper Lifting Techniques: Avoid injuries by using proper lifting techniques. Lift with your legs, not your back, and enlist the help of friends or family for heavy items. If a piece is too cumbersome, consider hiring professional movers in Stafford, VA, who are trained to handle large and heavy furniture safely.

Label Boxes Clearly: Label each box with its contents and the room it belongs to. This not only helps you stay organized but also makes unpacking much more efficient. Clearly marked boxes ensure that each piece of furniture ends up in the correct room in your new Stafford, VA home.

Coordinate with Professional Movers: If the prospect of moving furniture on your own seems overwhelming, consider enlisting the help of professional movers in Stafford, VA. Experienced movers can efficiently handle the logistics, ensuring a smooth and stress-free transition. Research local moving companies and read reviews to find a reliable service.

Arrange Furniture Strategically: Once you've transported your furniture to the new location, take the time to arrange it strategically. Consider the flow of each room, the placement of lighting, and the overall aesthetic. Thoughtful arrangement enhances the functionality and visual appeal of your space.

Dispose of Unwanted Items: Before moving, assess your furniture and decide if there are items you no longer need or want. This is an excellent opportunity to declutter and minimize the items you'll be moving. Donate, sell, or dispose of unwanted furniture responsibly.

Conclusion:

Moving furniture in Stafford, VA, can be a seamless process with careful planning and execution. By creating a moving plan, measuring doorways, gathering necessary supplies, and utilizing proper lifting techniques, you can ensure a smooth transition to your new home. Whether you choose to tackle the move independently or enlist the help of professional movers, these tips and tricks will help make the process efficient and stress-free.

[jackobshaw]

Exploring Daycare Centers in Stafford: Your Options

Finding the right daycare option for your child is an important decision that can significantly impact their development, comfort, and education. In Stafford, various daycare centers offer diverse services catered to varied parent and child needs. This article comprehensively explores daycare center options in Stafford, providing you with the knowledge needed to decide on the best choice for your family.

Daycare centers primarily allow parents to leave their children during the day for care, supervision, and educational activities. They cater to children ranging from six weeks old to school age. With their solid academic focus, daycare centers are favored by parents who want their children to start their learning journeys early.

Daycare Centers

Stafford, Virginia, has several daycare centres catering to different needs, capacities, and pedagogical philosophies. They offer varied programs, such as part-time or full-time care, educational sessions, and extracurricular activities. Some providers even provide pick-up and drop-off services and cater to special needs children.

Curriculum-Based Daycares

A growing trend in daycare provision is curriculum-based programs. These centres enhance learning and build foundational skills for young children. For instance, The Goddard School in Stafford uses a play-based curriculum to develop each child's emotional, social, cognitive, creative, and physical skills in a fun and stimulating environment. Similarly, the KinderCare Learning Center follows a curriculum that promotes critical thinking, collaboration, communication, creativity, and confidence.

Faith-Based Daycares

There are also faith-based daycare options in Stafford, such as Ebenezer United Methodist Church Preschool and Aquia Episcopal Church Preschool. These facilities focus on teaching basic academic skills and instilling religious and moral values in a safe and nurturing environment. They vary in their religious affiliations and philosophies, making it crucial to research a center's curriculum and faith base thoroughly.

Home-Based Daycares

Stafford offers many family child care or home-based daycare options for those seeking a more intimate and homely environment. These facilities provide care in a home setting, often with smaller group sizes. Home-based childcare providers such as Annette's Happy Kids Daycare and Patty Cake Daycare promise individual attention and personalized care due to their lower teacher-to-child ratios.

Non-Profit Daycares

As an alternative to Kiddie Academy in Stafford, non-profit organizations like the Rappahannock Area YMCA offer daycare programs. These centers prioritize affordable, community-based care, making them suitable for families with financial constraints. Non-profit daycares often have strong ties to their communities and involve parents extensively in their child's care and education.

Factors to Consider

Before committing to a daycare centre, there are several factors to consider. Here are a few crucial points:

Teacher-to-Child Ratio: A lower ratio means more individual attention to each child, ensuring adequate supervision and engagement.

Staff Qualification: Trained and experienced staff can provide a richer learning experience for your child: research teacher qualifications, professional development practices, and staff turnover rates at the centre.

Schedule and Flexibility: Understand the daily schedule and routine of the daycare. A good balance of structured activities, free play, rest, and meals are vital.

Safety: Ensure the centre complies with local and national safety regulations. Look at cleanliness, food safety, emergency procedures, and staff background checks.

Curriculum: An intentional, age-appropriate curriculum can significantly influence your child's development. Progressive curriculums that focus on social, emotional, and cognitive development are most beneficial for children.

Visiting the Daycare

The most critical aspect of the selection process is visiting the daycare. This will provide a hands-on experience of a typical day and enable you to observe the interaction between caregivers and children. Assess the physical environment, keep the staff's attitude towards the children, and take note of the safety measures in place.

Finally, ask for references. Speaking with other parents will give you a fair idea of what to expect and help you understand how the centre resolves parental concerns or grievances. Knowing other parents trust and are happy with the daycare centre is reassuring.

Conclusion

To conclude, Stafford offers many daycare options, each with strengths and traits. Understanding your child's needs and aligning them with what different daycare centers provide is essential. The choices are varied and dynamic, whether it's a curriculum-based program, a homely environment, or a faith-based setting. Taking the time to research, visit, and consider the many establishments will aid in making the right choice for your family, setting the stage for your child's early development and learning success.

[blueboxphenomenon]

Department C19

Covid 19

Suspicious if you ask me.

What’s next an illness of called TW3?

Seems their misinformation team has go downhill since Miss Smiths day. (Speaking of Miss Smith where did those two children of hers come form? There is no prior records of these two before she adopted them. Aliens put I her care by her former superiors at UNIT?)

Right? Personally I believe Covid-19 was of alien origin, linked to the plastic disease Adam Lang reported later in 2020. They say the virus originated in China, and Lang was found in Hong Kong...

I take it you're referring to Sarah Jane Smith (God rest her soul)? There is a birth certificate for Luke Smith, and adoption papers, yet it's hard to find any record of his actual activities. Like, the official stuff is there, but there's no internet footprint or social footprint before 2008.

There was also this incident, where Smith was arrested on suspicion of having abducted "Ashley Stafford" and having him live under the name "Luke Smith." She was released on UNIT orders and that seems to have been the end of it. Either she did abduct Luke and UNIT covered it up, or, more likely, Luke merely bore a strong resemblance to Ashley. Neighbours of the Stafford family before their move to Ealing did not recognise Ashley (or Luke) at all when he was reported missing on BBC News. So that's all very murky...

Sky Smith is a huge mystery. Not only are her origins as mysterious as Luke's, but also seems to have vanished off the face of the Earth at some point. While Luke has been leaving footprints since 2009, Sky does not seem to appear on any records after 2012.

Perhaps someone can convince Rani Chandra or Clyde Langer to reveal what really used to go on with the Bannerman Road team, and therefore where Luke came from and Sky went? Miss Chandra seems like the best to ask, given her journalistic escapades. She hasn't let becoming a highly praised journalist stop her from writing pieces on Wester Drumlins or the secret race of oceanic dinosaur people.

Since Miss Smith's passing, I haven't really had the heart to press any of them myself. I hear the funeral was huge, and we all felt her passing. I know she was involved in a few cover-ups, but I feel like she and her team did a lot of good under that cloak of secrecy. I think she even left a few clues in her novels. It's a shame we'll never truly know the full extent of it.

Always worth a try contacting Rani at r.chandra199@mail.uk I suppose!

[finishinglinepress]

FLP CHAPBOOK OF THE DAY: Mutual Life by Scott Lowery

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What are the #familiar, vital connections that maintain community? What’s at stake when those ties are strained to the breaking point by pandemic anxiety, climate disasters, and the politics of resentment? This collection offers a free-ranging chronicle of everyday life during the upheavals of the past few years. Shifting from rural to urban, angry to quizzical, lyrical to conversational, Lowery’s poems look for answers in close observation of nearby nature (the honey bee and sandhill crane, “the oak leaf that still holds on”), or the shared rituals of #family and personal sustenance. Against odds, these nuanced poems voice hope for the common good—for Mutual Life.

Scott Lowery is a poet, musician, and teaching artist from the Upper Midwest. His work can be found in a wide variety of literary journals and several anthologies, with two poems nominated for Pushcart and Best of Net awards. A long-time public school teacher, Scott loves guiding poetry workshops for young writers, inside and outside of classrooms. He and his wife recently moved from rural Rollingstone, Minnesota, magnetically pulled toward their grandchildren in Milwaukee.

PRAISE FOR Mutual Life by Scott Lowery

These poems are full of music and witness—keenly felt and keenly observed. Each delivered with a quiet playful mastery that’s dazzling in the best possible way. Each one brings you into a moment lived and felt, whether it’s a moment of horror, rage or wonder. Fierce, funny, tender and ultimately hopeful, Lowery has transformed the dumpster fire of our recent past into poems you want to visit again and again.

–Naomi Cohn, founder of Known By Heart Poetry, author of The Braille Encyclopedia

Mutual Life, Scott Lowery’s stunning new collection of poems, strips away the thin veneer of contemporary American life to reveal the many fissures between hope and despair, dream and reality. The result is a remarkable book that speaks to the immediacy of our own moment, and reminds us again that we are all bound, in our mutual lives, by love and compassion.

–Robert Hedin, author of At the Great Door of Morning: Selected Poems and Translations

Scott Lowery’s poems practice “vigilant listening,” as he puts it. Lowery applies his deeply moral imagination to the daily press of events. But whether addressing the shock of climate change, the difficulties of campaign door-knocking in a conservative neighborhood, or the joys of a newborn granddaughter, his poems also show an allegiance to verbal elegance and careful construction. This book faces the world’s difficulty and offers it something beautiful in return.

–James Armstrong, author of Empire and Blue Lash

Scott Lowery explores the political and personal urgencies of the last few years, using an astonishing variety of forms and ingenious rhymes and rhythms that remind readers that he is, after all, a musician as well as a verbal magician. Lowery’s poems ask us, finally, to stand ‘shoulder to shoulder among our fellow mortals.’ Readers, step forward.

–Connie Wanek, author of Rival Gardens

In an America and world dizzy with change, the poems in Mutual Life find both solace and luscious liberation in the depths of interconnection. It is a celebratory, generously communal vision both fortified by and dissatisfied with the yesteryear landscapes of William Stafford and William Carlos Williams. How to celebrate the golden sunlight and also be a good person, family member, and citizen?

–Ed Bok Lee, author of Mitochondrial Night and Whorled

Pogo said “We have seen the enemy and he is us.” Scott Lowery is telling us the same thing in his chapbook Mutual Life. No, it’s not a book about life insurance, or is it? Lowery expresses anger and frustration at what we have created for ourselves. The poems are razor-sharp and they take no prisoners, but without the overblown rhetoric one often encounters in poems about “issues”.

–Ken McCullough, author of Broken Gates and Dark Stars

In Mutual Life, Scott Lowery brings a fine attention to detail and tender wisdom as he shows us our shared communal lives with nature, parses the challenges of politics, and sings the rescue and bright shine of family in these times. A book of vigilance, hope and humor, these poems are both luminous and unsentimental, and filled with grace that lifts you up into a wild spiral of wings.

–Diane Jarvenpa, author of The Way She Told Her Story

Please share/please repost #flpauthor #preorder #AwesomeCoverArt #poetry #chapbook #read #poems #family

[thelongforgottenrealm]

LADY EITHNE MALCONAIRE / EMILIE DE RAVIN

♛ Age: (27) ♛ Relationships: Brigit Malconaire, Aoife Malconaire, Roisin Malconaire (sisters), Valentina Malconaire (step-mother), Cassimir Malconaire (step-brother), Sonya Malconaire (step-sister), Eilionora Stafford (best friend), Arthur Varmont (flirtation), Percy Reaves (friend), Cillian Frost (friend/servant)

eithne has always been hailed as a great beauty and everyone knew that one day, she would one day marry well

eithne loves her family dearly and has always wanted her own one day, but while she once hoped she would marry for love, she now realizes that in order to save her sisters from all having to marry, she must marry for wealth (and lots of it)

she's never been much of a flirt, but she has been rather encouraging of arthur varmont's attentions, for marrying the potential heir to the varmont empire, would mean that her family would never want for anything again -- however, eithne knows that she is not the only girl he has eyes for and does not think that he intends for his attentions to be taken seriously

there are many men who would marry her in a heartbeat -- her beauty, charm, and kindness make up for the fact that she has but a small dowry -- however, eithne has made it clear that she also wishes her sisters to be provided for, too, up until the time that they marry -- if they so choose

given aoife's shyness and brigit's decidedly lack thereof, it seems neither of them would ever be likely to marry of their own accord and when that is realized, that's when most men decide not to make her an offer

still, eithne is determined!!

while it is a last resort, she has not completely eliminated the prospect of marrying cassimir

his attentions towards her are obvious and while he is far from ideal (for many reasons!) he's always been kind to her and she knows that her sisters would be cared for and would also be able to remain in their home

eithne is optimistic that things would be better than they are now -- if she married cassimir, she would be the lady of the household again and see things set right

sonya would eventually marry and leave them and valentina will not be with them forever ....

however, she knows cassimir can be cruel and he is not fond of her sisters (nor they of him) and if she can find a better alternative, she will

until then, eithne spends most of her days in the kitchens

she's learned to cook rather well and supplies the entire household with her savory stews and (on occasion) sweet lemon cakes

eithne loves to read and can often be found reading while she works (she is an exceptional multitasker)

eithne has been like a mother to her sisters since rosie was born and she looks out for them all (don't let her scolding fool you!!! it's just because she loves them and wants them to be the best they can be and although she tries to keep brigit to think before she speaks and not to be less aggressive; encourage aoife to be braver and to enjoy more social events; and rosie to keep from being too self-centered and materialistic, the truth is that she loves them all dearly and wouldn't change a thing about them!)

TAKEN BY KATE.

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[mydyspraxiablog]

Today this dyspraxia be having problems with Sims4 still say delivery error ooooooo make me want scream but more frustrated with Sims 4 so thought take out document and clean EA cash clear but still Sims 4 didn't work beginning wish never press update because it working but won't let play unless update now not Sims 4 not work at rip of Britain should have X box play Sims 4 it window 11 sims don't work. I repaid about 20 time and just stupid window 11 0 driver free can't play Sims 4 but Sims 3 was work but wasn't saving on Sims3 university so got ride of that game and it work.

Nevermind about now secert be talking it noughting do family well one is with family but have speek Georgina about that that her secert tell not mind.

As you see sponsor child from Ethiopia but do want sponsor another child but pray to God use me noughting coming show children happy face from Compassionuk wish mum let sponsor child from Planuk and Standbyme and world wide version but Mum said no " Keep charity with Compassionuk I feeling let orapen downs let God down by not helping those charity.

I bit frustrated want download Alex on my laptop but forgot password on Amazon window 11 so try looking password book isn't day try look on password manger it wasn't day know it was one my pets but wish one so click forget password did verify code then ask security questions what end of number card " Well didn't know because mum Natwest card " You see because scarm be cope cat amozon and charity wasn't going charity it was going business people instead charity of Planuk saving children didn't get money because scarm have from do fake website on Facebook sorry Facebook but this true these fake charity website got close because isn't fair on me now tell why in mixture.

So see mum won't let have adult mobie phone have monkey mobie phone which got mum knowing where I am impossible to have boyfriend but I see too much pain in life have a boyfriend.

So mum took Natwest card off me jeasuly of Amazon promble start when mum awnvers the phone mininight told mum be need with some covid need feel covid form and idot give bank accont but instead spead £1.000 on pizza from pizza express and Pizza Dominic so fun covid form was send when spead money on pizza.

So because off this can't shop any supermarket sick paid cash price going up have up some back which is embarrassing so stop shopping in Asda ,Tesco ,Sainburry, Mossion.

When do Animal crouse Lower dyrton farm care and upper morton farm people keep asking me " Victoria do you do shopping? " " No" " Why not"

I do want return back college really enjoy Cannock college felt belong there but can't going to College because mum using my email vshaw3554@gmail.com won't use own email as that for church only so have received all spam and all mum junk as well not only mum furniture in Snug,Buckingham place Summer house, cat shed have cope with all email in my email Staff college say " You can't have mum shave your email isn't right isn't fair other student till mum stop using email can't going college or can't be volunteer because of mum"

Mum isn't going back " I not paid only OAP try project you of scarm I not paid for shave email miscsoft and Google can get lost paid £49 broadband with Shell email should be free.

I tell her " No should things as free lurch"

Be hostery scarm have ruin my life and give me no independence so hope this scarm going to Hell how can forgive Scarm took my life away from me.( mean no independence adult living kid life)

Can't even send cheque to Lone Staffordshire Trefoil guild because mum took off cheque book but only one cheque left Can't order cheque book because haven't got Natwest card. I feel left out can't Stafford Art group in rising Brook cafe because stop public bus turn in school buses not wait 430pm up Risebrook cafe church.

Can't move group too so join Stafford 3 UA and can't get up Risebrook book because no buses because school buses I did enjoy going farms but can't get back .

One day start thunder and lightning on way back from farm Lower dyton Farm care but didn't have any money going in cafe well cafe Nero in Stafford so have stayed at bus stop in thunder and lightning scare when outside in thunder and lightning hoping I don't get hit my lightning at bus stop so craw like ball hope thunder and lightning go it did going but was drown rat 🐀 wish having money going to for coffee dry myself this happon four time last one was in New Northfield centre and just finished Art and IT from care part it looking sunny so decide walk home but notice it really get dark so walk back to Stone Rd get the bus but no bus come so have no mobile phone and start thunder and lightning I was alone on bus stop scared haven't got mobile phone knew stone Rd thief money if pass out or bag or bus pass so scare and it was very strong winds too I decide walk New Northfield centre wait for Rain go off and walk home very wet and yes I was drown rat 🐀 again this was winter term doing Autum and Christmas things did enjoy them but sad lack of buses spoil things." Are going Lower Drayton Farm care crouse " " No" " Are do upper morton farm crouse " " no" Noughting wrong farm it lack of buses and can't use bus pass 930pm got cath 9.15 public bus get 930pm bus take up morton farm or Taxi mess you abouts in Lower dyton Farm there 10am don't pick up 11am because something happened on motorway.

So decide this year going on holiday instead why got no choice mum want use me so get thought que quickly security que at airport going Turkey that why where sunflower landyard with dyspraxia on.

I not talking about holiday because haven't got any money innsave accont at movent because spead most off Christmas on charity and Compassionuk sponsor child and paper gift rest of secert santa gift even not very good hide things.

So see give birthday gift to sponsor child and Christmas gift to sponsor child but receive late I send in October so done family gift start from November so my sponsor child don't miss out on Christmas gift like last year I feel like bad sponsor there.

Now as mum tell my secert to ever family might tell you but going say only once because not sure if alwon say this but my secert is get Baptist. That all saying for now.

[readingforsanity]

Before We Were Yours | Lisa Wingate | Published 2017 | *SPOILERS*

Memphis, 1939 

12 year old Rill Foss and her four younger siblings live a magical life aboard their family’s Mississippi River shantyboat. But when their father must rush their mother to the hospital one stormy night, Rill is left in charge - until strangers arrive in force. 

Wrenched from all that is familiar and thrown into a Tennessee Children’s Home Society Orphanage, the Foss children are assured that they will soon be returned to their parents - but they quickly realize the dark truth. 

At the mercy of the facility’s cruel director, Rill fights to keep her sisters and brother together in a world of danger and uncertainty. 

Aiken, South Carolina, present day. 

Born into wealth and privilege, Avery Stafford seems to have it all: a successful career as a federal procedutor, a handsome fiance, and a lavish wedding on the horizon. But when Avery returns home to help her father weather a health crisis, a chance encounter leaves her with uncomfortable questions and compels her to take a journey through her family’s long-hidden history, on a path that will ultimately lead either to devastation or to redemption. 

Based on one of America’s most notorious real-life scandals - in which Georgia Tann, director of a Memphis-based adoption organization, killed and sold poor children to wealthy families all over the country - Lisa Wingate’s riveting, wrenching and ultimately upifting tale reminds us how, even though the paths we take can lead to many places, the heart never forgets where we belong. 

The story of two girls in different times: May Crandall, going back and forth as her time in 1939, once living on a shantyboat on the river to being essentially kidnapped and sold to the Tennessee Childre’s Home Society to present day, a 90-year-old woman with secrets that are bound to be found out. And to present-day Avery Stafford, a prominent lawyer from DC, come home to the Carolinas to help her father as he is suffering with cancer, but as a promiment politician himself, tries to suffer in silence. 

These two women are bound by a secret, only known to May and Avery’s grandmother Judy, and Avery is desperate to find out. So unfolds the tale of the TCHS, run by Georgia Tann and countless other men and women, who have taken advantage of poor or disadvantaged families in an attempt to control children. 

Rill Foss and her siblings are taken from their home on the river after their mother mistakenly signs her and their fathers rights away during a brief trip to the hospital after the birth of twin babies goes awry. They are sent to live in the home of Mrs. Murphy, working closely with Miss Tann. Unfortunately, many of the children are adopted and Rill knows nothing. Eventually, her younger sister Fern is adopted and a few days later, Rill goes to live with the same family, so her and Fern are reunited. 

In their want to get home to their true mother and father, Rill, now known as May, and Fern, known as Beth, flee in the night and return to the Arcadia, where they learn that their mother has died and their father has turned to whiskey to cope with the losses of his entire family. When their boat goes up in flames, they return to their adopted family and are met with a privileged life. 

Avery finds all of this out, and learns that Judy, her grandmother, was one of the twins born to her mother, and that her twin brother was also adopted, but nobody could ever find out what happened to him. May and Judy were reunited with Fern and Lark, another sister, many years later and while they wanted to share their stories, decided against it and would take it to their graves. That is until Avery begins snooping through the old family history, and learns the truth. 

May and Judy are reunited, and live together at Magnolia Manor, a home for seniors. Judy is in a memory care unit, but May is allowed to visit her sister whenever. Avery has ended her engagement to her longtime beau and is now dating Trent, the grandson of another man who was adopted rfom the TCHS, who was close to the Foss children during his time there, and helped reunite some of the sisters. 

Discussion Questions 

1. Before We Were Yours alternates between the historical story of the Foss children and the modern-day story of Avery Stafford. Did you have a favorite between these story lines? Which one and why? I enjoyed both perspectives. We got the historical one from Rill/May, and we got the modern day of Avery. Both stories are unknowingly intertwined together due to their shared histories, but Avery isn’t privvy to that until close to the end. May’s story is damaging to the heart, and will really tug at those heart strings, whereas Avery is just a young woman trying to find herself in a family who wants to control her every move. I think a lot of individuals her age could resonate with that. 

2. Many families have been touched in some way by adoption and foster care. Is adoption or foster care in your family history? If so, how did that affect your thoughts about the journey of the Foss children and about Avery’s excavation of her family histroy? I am unsure if anyone in my family has been adopted, though this would be unlikely. We do have family in Tennessee, so I have pondered if we did have anyone who was adopted, and if they could have potentially come from TCHS, but my family and ancestors were on the poorer side, so it is unlikely that Georgia Tann would have adopted any of the children to families in a less than prominent state. 

3. When the sisters were originally reunited, they decided to keep their history to themselves rather than telling their families. Do you agree or disagree with this decision? What do you think the implications would have been if they had gone public? Do you think family secrets should remain secret, particularly after the people who kept those secrets have passed away? Or do family secrets belong to the next generation, as well? Have you ever discovered a secret in your family history? If so, what was it? I agree with their decision. As it was mentioned, they were all adults with families of their own when they were reunited. Why confuse anyone by bringing in individuals. The sisters were all raised by prominent individuals, either in Hollywood or in the political world, and there wasn’t any reason to bring anything up. They had found each other and that was what mattered. 

4. There was a little girl who had a little curl is a touchstone between Avery and her grandma Judy. Is there a song or saying that reminds you of someone special in your childhood? Where does your mind travel when you hear it or repeat it? I can’t think of anything, other than a special handshake my great-Uncle Sonny would do with my sister and I when we were kids. It was always different, never the same as the time before, so it was like a running joke with him. Although as I got older, it got more annoying than funny. 

5. Avery laments that the busy schedule expected of a Stafford has prevented her from spending time on Edisto Island with her sisters or Elliot. “Who chooses the schedules we keep? We do, I guess,” she tells herself but excuses this with,  the good life demands a lot of maintenance.” In our modern age are we too busy? Too preoccupied with accumulating things to actually enjoy what we have? Too dialed into media and social media? What are your thoughts on this? What would you like to change about your own schedule? Anything? What might you gain if you did? Life is busy. I know this to be true: I have two kids, a husband, activities for my older daughter, a gym schedule for myself, schedules for the kids. It is never ending, and even when I am able to “relax”, it isn’t really relaxing as something is usually happening. We’re an active family, and that is what we chose for ourselves. 

6. While Rill sees her life on the Arcadia through the idyllic eyes of childhood, May in her old age seems to acknowledge that she wouldn’t have traded the life she lived for a different one. Do you think she wonders whether Queenie and Briny’s unconventional existence on the Arcadia could have been sustainable as times changed or more children were added to the family? Were Queenie and Briny responsible or careless in their choices? Queenie and Briny were neither responsible or careless. They just did what they could with what they had. They loved their children, of that I have no doubt. But, times were different then. Many families were poor and doing what they could to simply survive, but while also continuing to bring more children into their families and into the world. But, without Rill, May wouldn’t be who she is today. She was thankful for the family who adopted her, and allowed her to remain with one of her biological siblings. 

7. May says, “a woman’s past need not predict her future. She can dance to her own music if she chooses.” How has your past made you who you are? What do you want to leave behind? Anything? What is the true music of your own soul? Are you in step with it or out of step? What helps you hear your own music and find balance in your life? I’m only 32 years old, so there isn’t much of a past to be had for me. Would I do somethings differently? Absolutely. I dabbled in the drink a bit during my early 20s, but getting married at 25 and having my first child by the time I was 27, you really rethink the choices you make. I still like to have a good time, but do so more responsibly now. 

8. When fear of being caught threatens to prevent her from escaping Miss Murphy’s house, Rill tells herself, “I shush my mind because your mind can ruin you if you let it.” Does your mind ever ruin you? In what way? On what issues? May comments, “we’re always trying to persuade ourselves of things.” Are women particularly guilty of this? What do we tell ourselves that we shouldn’t? My mind ruins me on a daily basis the majority of the time. I overthink everything. My husband could say something to me, in a completely innocent way, and I’ll dwell on it for hours and sometimes days. It’s just how my brain is wired, I guess. 

9. Child trafficking, abuse and economic disadvantages still imperil the lives and futures of children today. What can we as ordinary citizens do to prevent children from being robbed of safe, happy childhoods? What can society do to prevent people like Georgia Tann from taking advantage of the most helpless and vulnerable among us? We need to protect our children. Every day, children are born into families who are unable to care for them, but those families don’t do anything to change their situations, or to give that child a better life. Why? Because those children are, for the most part, wanted. Just like the children of the story. Their family situations led them to be basically kidnapped from their families, and sold to other families. It is disgusting. 

10. Did you search for more information about Georgia Tann and the Tennessee Children’s Home society after reading? What did you learn? Based on what you learned, what do you think motivated Georgia? Why were so many people willing to be complicit in her schemes when they knew children were suffering? Was Georgia’s network a creature of the political corruption and societal attitudes of its time or could something like this happen today? I did research Georgia Tann when I first started reading the story. While I like to think that she has helped pave the way for modern adoptions, such as having the records sealed until the adopted children reaches adulthood, there was nothing modern about her. She was a terrible woman, and I wish she would have had justice brought to her. 

11. Avery feels the pressure of being in a high-profile political family. Do you famous families are held to a higher standard than others? Should they be? Has this changed in recent years or is it just harder to keep secrets in today’s media-crazed world? Famous families are often under the public eye more than your regular, everyday family. Hollywood couples and their families can’t go anywhere without being watched like a hawk by every single person in the world. There are eyes everywhere. Do I think this is right? No. They’re human, and are entitled to privacy just the same as anyone else. Simply because of their jobs, we are thought to believe that we can scrutinize their every move, and that isn’t okay. 

12. How did Avery grow as a result of her discoveries abou the family’s past? How did it change her view of herself and her family’s expectations for her? Did your family have expectations for you that you didn’t agree with? Who in Avery’s family might struggle most to accept her decision to change her life plans? Avery found herself. She was a confused 30-year-old basically being told that she was going to have a career in politics from the day she was born. Her parents were widely successful people, her father more than her mother, but she wanted to find her own way. And I think of all people, her father was the one who would understand that the most. 

13. Do you think there will be a happily-ever-after ending for Avery and Trent? In your view, what might that look like? Absolutely. if there ever was two people who were right for each other, it was these two. They were basically bred from the same cloth, meant to find each other years after their grandparents did. 

14. How would you describe Rill as she struggles through the abduction, the orphanage, and her decision to return to her adoptive family? Did you admire her? What changes did you see in her as a result of the experience? How is she different when she gets to the Sevier’s house? Rill was a fascinating character. You rooted for her from the very beginning. She started as a young girl living on the river, to a well-respected woman of music, just like her adopted father. She went through so much as a 12-year-old girl, it had to take a lot to return to the people who basically purchased her, though they were unaware of the intentions of Georgia Tann and what she was doing until Rill told them. 

15. Avery struggles to come to terms with Grandma Judy’s dementia. Her family wrestles with difficult choices about Grandma Judy’s care. Has memory loss and elder care affected your family? In what way? What issues did it cause and how did you deal with them? Have you imagined what it would be like to be a victim of memory loss? My grandmother has Alzheimer’s/Dementia. While she can still remember things fairly clearly, she does tell stories repeatedly, and can’t remember things. For example, she purchased a new washer and dryer for me, and used the store credit card. We weren’t sure it would still work but it did. Everything seemed to be going well, until I talked to her a few days ago when she said that I’d receive the bill for it. I explained that it would come to her, as it was in her name. She didn’t remember using the card at all, and thought she had put it on layaway. She can remember details of her life from years ago, but oftentimes can’t remember the names of people she’s recently met, or has known only a short time. It’s hard knowing that this might be my future, and one day I won’t remember the names or faces of the people I love the most in this world. 

16. The Seviers seem to have adopted the Foss girls with good intentions. Do you think they were aware of or at all suspicious of Georgia Tann’s methods? Should they have been? They had no idea. They thought they were working with a legitimate orphanage, and a woman who actually cared about the children. But it is clear straight from the beginning that Georgia was basically stealing these children to earn a profit. It is stated as so in the research I conducted outside of this book. She was taking about 90% of the profits earned from these children, and putting it in her own pocket. What happened to that other 10%? We may never know as she died three days before anything happened to the TCHS and prosecution could be had against her. 

17. What symbolism do you see in the picture of the sisters on the wall? How do you think the sisters felt during their Sisters Days? Do you have sisters you are close to or sister-friends you spend time with? What does that bond mean to you? I have an older sister, 9-years older than me, and while our relationship was tumultous growing up, we are close now. We have kids, all girls, and I couldn’t imagine ever giving them up, or what they would do without each other. My daughters are obsessed with each other, and while they may fight, I know they’ll always have each other. 

18. Did you wish all seven of the Foss siblings could have found one another in the end? In your opinion, would that have been realistic or unrealistic? Why do you think the author chose not to bring all of the siblings back together? Yes, I do! I’m heartbroken that we never get to find out was happpened to Camellia. She was there one day, and then she was gone. I would have given anything to find out what happened to her. As for the twin boy, as well as the boy that was adopted from Miss Tann, I hope they lived full lives. I think Lisa Wingate chose to not bring them all back together because it is unrealistic. Yes, it would have garnered a happy ending in the end, but this story is meant to be as realistic as possible. It’s a homage to what these children actually went through. I’m sure many siblings who were separated weren’t lucky enough to reunite with their siblings. 

19. This novel has garnered worldwide interest in the publishing industry and is being translated for publication in at least fourteen countries. Why do you think the story drew international attention? What themes in it are universal? This could have happened anywhere: the UNited States, Canada, Europe, Asia...this literally IS happening everywhere. Child trafficking is still very much a thing, and black market adoptions are still happening, we just don’t hear anything about it. 

20. Was the cover a factor in your book club’s decision to read? What reaction did you have to the cover and title? It tells the story of the girls, Fern and Rill before they were the Seviers. The picture is of Rill and Fern, from the back. You can tell by the descriptions of the hair Lisa used in the books. 

21. Will you be passing the book on to someone else? Will it remain on your bookshelf? Will you give a copy to someone you know? Unfortunately, I had to borrow this book from the library, but I do know someone else who read the book, and honestly, I will recommend this book to anyone who loves to read as much as I do. I am looking forward to reading the non-fiction version of the story told from the perspective of real survivors of Georgia Tann’s negligence.