Böcker av Christi Pope

Looking Up From The Bottom is the story of a family that was almost permanently torn apart by regrettable errors in judgement that set off a dismal chain of events. A three-person family can be likened to a tripod - the family members holding each other up. Remove one of the legs and that family can fall. Shirley Harper and daughter, Alice, had lost their husband and father unexpectedly, and struggled to remain upright without him. Gene Michaels was by all accounts "an okay guy" and was welcomed into the family as the new third member. He made errors in judgement that threatened to ruin the family tripod. It was almost too late when he realized the regrettable mistakes that he had made. Everyone has something that they have done in the past, that, if they could have that chance, they would ask for a do-over. Certainly, Gene Michaels made bad choices that he regretted very quickly. In the still of the night, he knew that he was at fault for the tears in the family fabric. Daughter Alice, too, had made mistakes. "Alice lay down on the bed, admitting to herself for the millionth time that she was lonely. She was sorry now that she came. She was sorry that she was so mean to her mother. Face it, Alice, she told herself. You're sorry for it all."

Lucy Left Town is the emotional story of a woman, who after many years of marriage, decided to take care of herself first; the story of a woman who began to look for something more in her life.In Lucy's teenage years, heartsore with grief due to an unexpected death, she made a hurried and distraught decision; a decision that seemed to be the only option at the time.That decision led to many years of marriage, and as the years began to add up, she found herself struggling with the feeling that life was passing by at an alarming rate. She began to wonder if the years spent with her husband were reason enough to justify spending her remaining time in a vacuum.Her husband, Chip, was not a cruel or difficult man; just a man who was content with very little change in his life; satisfied with remaining in the groove he had notched out for himself.Finally, Lucy concluded that the only course of action that she could take would be to leave her home - she did not make this decision lightly, but thought about it from many angles, and in order to have that something more, she would have to take that big step.Settled into a new life, Lucy was content. Meanwhile, Chip could not reconcile himself to the fact that she had left and was determined that she should return and they could restart their lives together.In the end, Fate decided the outcome of any reconciliation between the two of them, and another unexpected death sent Lucy back to her home for one last visit.