Looking Up From The Bottom

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."