EXTRACT FOR
Elaine & Donna: A Love Story, Part 3, Growing Pains
(David Monroe)

  It had been several weeks since James and Helen had been gone from their lives, but Elaine and Donna were still feeling a bit overwhelmed at the loss of their recently found substitute parents as well as the acquisition of the old farm where they were now living. Ernie and Mildred had both seemed initially a bit lost and confused at the absence of their former owners, but as time went on they both just appeared to have adapted to their new owners and their new circumstances. From the cat's point of view, they still had loving, caring human attendants and the food was still coming on a regular basis, so their lives pattered on much as before.



      Elaine envied the cats' ability to accept all the changes that had occurred so suddenly and without the anguish and sadness she was feeling; she still found herself having trouble getting on with each day as it came. Some days were better than others, but until just recently she had found herself often overcome with sorrow and grief at their loss and could not keep herself from breaking down in tears at just the simple sight of James and Helen's house or the farm itself. Her recent interest in spirituality had helped some, but as this was still a very new experience for her, it was only a superficial or perhaps fleeting comfort.



        Donna was also having some difficulty in adjusting to their new situation. After the horrific experience that both of them had encountered when trying to reconnect with their respective families the previous Christmas back in Childers, the relationship that they had cultivated with James and Helen had been like a safe haven. She had felt a real connection with the Adams' and not having them to lean on or get advice from anymore had left a hole in her heart. Donna had been utterly turned off to any type of spiritual cushion based on her own family's narrow-minded and unbending view of life until Elaine had introduced her to a new way of thinking about the universe and how it might work. This had helped, but overall, she was getting little help for herself in that regard personally if she was honest with herself.



        The girls had talked for hours each day since the memorial service, as they lounged about their comfortable cabin apartment just down the road from the main house on the property as well as on long hikes and occasional rides throughout the sprawling acreage that made up the property that had been left to them by their former landlords and friends. The conversations seemed to be more speculative and quizzical in nature about the whys of it all, but overall neither was getting any real answers or resolution to what had happened. They both knew that as more time passed, the better they would feel, but so far it had been a very slow process and they both were still grappling with it all. The long amounts of time they had spent outside wandering their new home were helping, though, and each day Elaine could feel the dark cloud that was pressing down on her lift just a bit.