Elizabeth

The author Chris Taylor uses old family stories told to him by his Uncle Billy and the letters written between him and his mother Elizabeth to tell the story of a brave and courageous woman who changes her life from being an alcoholic to being a woman who falls in love with God. Elizabeth and her two brothers and their parents lived in Florida on Ft. George Island across the St. John s River from Jacksonville where they ran a Fish Camp and had various encounters with a panther, a bear, and sharks. For fun, Elizabeth and her younger brother Billy would bore holes in the other kids boats and then blow them up with cherry bombs which lead to them being banned from the river. Elizabeth was married five times. The marriages ended with extreme domestic violence involving a baseball bat, a shovel, coke bottles and a potato rake, and the broken neck of a liquor bottle. The last marriage was peaceful but ended when Elizabeth was diagnosed with cervical cancer. When her last husband leaves, her son Chris who is in the Navy claims her as his dependent. They develop a strong relationship which can be read about in the letters they wrote to each other. When Elizabeth dies Chris begins a downward spiral into alcoholism. After moving to Georgia Chris learns that he has a half sister and when they meet his life is changed forever.