#chapmanevent

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The News

It was never an easy call to make. As the sole living parent of her children, Marianne felt a strong weight of responsibility for her family. She had always held a career of her own but her children always came first, supporting them even when their decisions had gone against her advice. Their father had been more of a rigid personality and she had tried to bridge the gap that he unintentionally created in the family. She was always the one to smooth over disagreements between her husband and their four children, keeping the peace as well as she could manage to. 

The passing of her husband had been difficult on them all, but at the same time there was a guilty sense of relief in some of them that no one dared speak about. Frankie was just about to graduate high school, the others all attending college or working by that point. More than ever, Marianne was the one holding them all together. She pushed them all to manage their loss, insistently encouraging Frankie towards graduation. 

But back to the call, the call that she made to each of her children on that cold January afternoon. She had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, insisting to them that she had made a plan for treatment with her doctor’s help. She didn’t want them to make a fuss about it but it was quickly apparent to them all that they wanted to be there with her. Suddenly her odd behavior that they had all noticed during the holidays made sense, the forgetfulness and moments of withdrawal that were so unusual for her- the serious talk of retirement after they had all joked that she would probably work until the day that they forced her out of her position in the office. 

One by one they have arrived back in town, each anxious to be there for their mother. She was the one that they all looked to for support when things got hard, so now that she is the one in need they have all begun looking to each other for reassurances that things will be okay. 

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List of Events in the Chapman Family History:

The Birth of Nico’s Daughter. 

Nico’s girlfriend, Vi, felt like her life was destroyed by the unplanned pregnancy. Her parents were adamantly pro-life and she felt coerced into keeping the baby, humiliated and miserable as she was forced to go to school with this ever-growing sign of her own stupidity wrapped around her mid-section. Things became too much for her and she dropped out of school, wanting nothing to do with the baby once it was born. She signed over sole custody of the child to the Chapmans and would eventually go on to earn her GED as she desperately sought to move past the situation. 

Nico was ill-prepared to be a father. Marianne took some time off of work to help with the baby until daycare was an option, not wanting it to mean that her son would drop out of high school. She wanted him to still experience everything- insisting on babysitting so that he could attend his senior prom and graduation. At the same time she made sure that he was doing his share of the work too, wanting him to understand that at the end of the day he was responsible for his own child. His parents helped ensure that he was accepted into a good college, helping him to make arrangements for childcare and lodgings. 

Thanksgiving of 2007

To be fair, Noah probably should have warned his parents before he brought home his college boyfriend for Thanksgiving. Their father had never made any indication that he would have a problem with it- he had always been a democrat that supported diversity and freedom. It turned out that he was not prepared for his son to come out as being bisexual though, caught off guard by the tall handsome stranger that Noah brought into their home. It made for a very needlessly awkward holiday that everyone is still anxious to forget. Their father was avoiding and uncharacteristically cold. He had always struggled to express his emotions but it had never felt so hostile before. Noah withdrew himself after the incident, skipping Christmas with the family that year. He had never felt particularly close to his father but there was a distinct wall of bitterness between them from that point forward. 

Frankie Drops Out of Her College Courses

Frankie took the death of her father very hard. She was only eighteen and probably closer to him than anyone else. She was the baby of the family, never assuming that she would end up the ‘faller’ of her family when Nico had managed to knock up his girlfriend in high school. 

If it hadn’t been for her mother she never would have graduated high school or enrolled in college classes. Frankie insisted on going to a local school, unwilling to leave her mother’s home just yet. She was very depressed and despite her mother’s encouragement it wasn’t too long before Frankie dropped out of her college classes. Marianne was disappointed and is still trying to get Frankie to go back to school and finish something.