Orphans In The Storm

While I was singularly blessed with two parents who loved me beyond all reckoning, neither of them lived long enough.  My father died only four days after my ninth birthday.  My mother, at least, was able to see me graduate high school and college (and grad school, for that matter), and be there for my marriage and the birth of our first child.  She died soon after; I swear to you that she held on long enough to hold her granddaughter in her arms, and then figured she was free to go in peace.  I miss them both to this day.  The next two posts are stories about these two remarkable people.