Our Lost Years

Lily Mae is a smart young girl, born into a family of agricultural field workers from the Texas pan handle, in search of jobs in the San Joaquin Valley. She reads books and news papers and is up to date on farming in the valley. She tried to advise her family on the needs for water conservation and farm machinery use within the valley, but her family is reluctant to change from their old ways. Lily had an opportunity to move to Georgia with a socially elite family and have a better education and a more proper upbringing than if she stay with her family in California. The family was reluctant to let her go, but they saw how Lily would have a better chance in life. The wealthy lady wanted Lily to move back to their home and be a companion to her young daughter. Her education and life experiences were much better than what she would have with her family. She was included as a member of this family but felt alone without her family and now what seemed to her, living with this temporary family. She wanted a dear friend and he came along as Ralph, the delivery guy. Lily was smitten by this self assured man, who paid her a lot of attention. Within a short while they were married and both were elated, but for separate reasons. Lily's commitment to the marriage soon ended as soon as Ralph abused her and eventually beat her. At the Piggly Wiggly, Lily accidentally met William, a kind gentleman. They developed a friendship while discussing recipes to use for the things they bought. Their friendship was platonic and uplifting to Lily's deflated womanly ego. Ralph eventually heard about their meetings at the grocery store, but what he heard was inflated, but he became fighting mad. Ralph was also shorting his customers of their illegal liquor and got caught. He wronged the wrong one and The Big Boss outed him. Because William was visiting with Ralph's wife in the Piggly Wiggly, then he was used as the scapegoat made to appear as the one who outed Ralph and fell accused. Willian could see what was happening and advised Lily to go back to California to her mothers and stay. He said he would contact her later. Lily never forgot her admiration for William and even though she had many successful achievements, she never became committed to this lifestyle and always dreamed of her home near Savannah. After staying for 35 years, fate and her savings gave her the opportunity to move back to the place she called home, Ellabell, located near Savannah. She thought if she could just get back the unanswered questions from her past would be answered. Through a mutual friend, William's name was mentioned. He had moved back not long ago. Lily imagined him to be rich and not plain like her, so she tried to put William aside and concentrate on getting her life in order. With encouragement from Jim, she met with William and it became an enlightening opportunity to reconnect but this time their meeting was not just relegated to Tuesday afternoons at the Piggly Wiggly. Their friendship blossomed into one speaking of a future together. Also Jim's granddaughter was going through times with her abusive husband and Lily who was living near was aware of what was happening. With Jim's assistance and concern for Susan, he is given the credit for saving her emotional life when he took her to his family farm to live in peaceful contentment. The peacefulness of the farm gave her a chance to heal. As she grew well she became an integral part of the farming operation. She grew to love the horses and was encouraged to ride and was often taken out on trail rides around the farm to learn about it's crops. A kind barn worker named Tony was instrumental in these rides and telling her in depth information about the crops. The trust between them leads to a strong concern for each other, but their concern is interrupted when Tony has to go away, for seven weeks, to Guard Duty .