"Fantasy Family"

This picture is from this site.

1. I don't know these people, I'll bet they were kind and wonderful.
2. I make it all up, no ill will is intended.

Lucy and Erma (wearing dark suit) are new acquaintances. They met 6 months ago when they discovered that they were both once married to the same scoundrel in their younger, more vibrant and foolish years.

The scoundrel's name was Barney. Barney was a charmer. Truth be told, Barney had a total of 9 wives in his prime. They all left him and asked for no alimony. They just wanted to be done with him. Good riddens!

Lucy's grand-daughter found a photo of Barney while helping Lucy sort through some boxes of old stuff in the attic. Lucy thought sure she had torn up, thrown out, or burned- all evidence of Barney's connection to her life. Her grand-daughter, Gail had pulled the photo out of the box and immediately knew there had to be a good story attached to this one!!

Gail heard the story unfold of how Grandma Lucy married {nearly 60 year old} Barney when she was just 19. He promised grand trips across the world and a lavish lifestyle. He really did promise "the world". She was taken in by his lies and was patient for the first few months of marriage until she wised up and realized he was full of manure. By then he had already swindled her [and her Daddy] out of thousands of dollars; their life savings. He said he was having problems getting into his accounts and would pay them back. Liar! Crook!

As it happened, sometime after the attic adventure, Gail wrote a piece for the local newspaper, fiction based on fact. It was for a short story writing contest. It was Grandma Lucy's story of betrayal --with the names changed.

Erma read the story and a light bulb illuminated inside her memory. She knew that story because she had also lived it. She had married an older {much older} man named Barney, that was exactly like the "Gene" in Gail's story. Erma was a young girl of 18 when Barney swept her off her feet with promises of visits to France, Italy and diamonds to wear at home while maids attended her. Erma, too, was swindled out of plenty of money. I won't go into the details, but Erma and Lucy were able to find each other as a result of the story Gail wrote.

Lucy and Erma were both widows in their 80's when they met. They had each married wonderful men [after Barney] and had long happy marriages.

Gail won the first prize for her story and received $3,000. She gave it to Grandma Lucy. It was her story, after all.

Erma won a prize also...a new friend-Lucy...someone that could relate to a part in her life that she had kept secret out of embarrassment.

Lucy and Erma are going on a trip to France and Italy and Greece too. They are taking Gail along.