Charlotte's mother, Myrtle Bond, lay dying from an overdose of morphine, administered in the hospital where she awaited gallbladder surgery. Her scheduled surgeon, unable to operate after a weekend of heavy drinking, shook uncontrollably.

When death came, a grief-stricken Charlotte accepted the mortician's request to comb her mother's hair for burial and select the music for the service.

Later, at the graveside, Charlotte felt the full impact of the future facing her: a seventeen-year-old's promise to "take care" of her siblings-Walter, age fifteen; Hubert, age eight; and Alberta, two and a half years of age. Was she able to handle such a responsibility? She had turned seventeen only two days before. Did she have the courage, even the know-how to face a life as a surrogate mother to her brothers and sister?

She needed help. To whom could she turn? This is Charlotte's story.

--Dolores E. Smithem Cicholas

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