Chapter one: The
beginning

We will start out by
going to the very beginning.

A family lives in
Galway Ireland; they live in a picture-perfect cottage, way out in the country.
They are not poor, nor wealthy. The parents of this family are Ronan and
Mairead, and they have three girls; the oldest is named Lovinia, Love for
short. She is 13 years old, and the two young twins, Faith and Joy, are 9 years
old. We will start the story on a bright June day, the day that Love’s life
changed.

Tempting aromas
wafted into Love’s room, mixing with the gentle breeze coming in from the
opened window.

Blinking her eyes
open, she yawned and sat up slowly.

After dressing
quickly, she went over to the mirror hanging on her door.

Looking at her
reflection, Love realized how much she had grown recently.

With blonde hair and
violet eyes, she was definitely different from the “normal” Irish girl.

Why couldn’t she have
the beautiful long, curly red hair, and beautiful blue eyes that her little
sisters had?

Shaking her head, she
turned her eyes away from her reflection, and quietly went downstairs.

Mum had prepared a
heaping breakfast this morning, with steaming bowls of porridge, a big bowl of
fresh fruit, pancakes with syrup, and soda bread.

Inhaling deeply, Love
flashed a smile at her mum, who was busy carrying food to and fro. Slowing for
a minute, mum turned at smiled at her eldest daughter.

Indeed, she was
turning into quite the beautiful young lady, at almost 14.

“If you wouldn’t
mind, it’s high time for your sisters to get up. Can you go wake them up?
Breakfast will be ready in 15 minutes.”

Groaning inwardly,
Love scurried upstairs, knowing that it would take some prodding for her
sisters to get up. Entering their room, she eyed the bunk bed, and decided that
she should tackle the hardest one first, Joy.

“Joy, it’s time to
get up! Breakfast will be ready soon, dear. JOY!”

After some heavy
shaking, her little sister finally sat up.

“Okay, I’m up!” She
said crankily. By this time, Faith had begun to stir, and she too slowly got up.
“Come on you guys. Hurry and get dressed! Breakfast is in about 10 minutes.”
Feeling quite proud of herself for waking them, she went to the kitchen to pass
along her success with her father. “They’re coming mum. Where is Da?”
Hesitating, Mum turned around and looked Love square in the eye. “I might as
well tell you now. Your father is leaving for America in a week. He has heard
there is a lot of opportunity in America, and he is going to see for himself.”

Stunned, Love stared
at her mother. “In only a week? How long have you two been planning this, Mum?
The journey to America is a long ways away, will he be safe? How long will he
be gone? What are we going to do while he is gone?”

The questions flew
from Love’s mouth, while her mother stood, waiting for her to finish. “We will
talk about this later, Love. Everything will be okay. God has taken good care
of us, and he will not fail us now. Your father should be out here any minute;
he has been praying heavily for guidance this morning.”

With that, she took the bell from its spot on the counter,
and shook it, signaling breakfast time. Bounding down the stairs, her two
sisters quickly slid into their chairs, waiting expectantly for their father to
come out, to say the morning prayers.