His friend Jim Page stopped by the next morning to drop off the new Bruce Cockburn recording and for weeks after, proud papa danced around the house with Lucy to the strains of Catching Fire. Music, recorded or sung, calmed and delighted her. During that first, exceptionally cold winter, he would walk to downtown Langley from the rented house on upper 2nd street with the new baby snuggled under his coat. It helped him to appreciate how her mother had felt months earlier.

Within a year of Lucy’s birth, the little family, including 9-year-old Leaf, moved into their newly purchased (with financial aid from Laurie’s mother) home at 714 Decker. Laurie & Vernon realized they were growing apart, even though they still loved and respected each other. Counseling helped them to realize that their individual goals in life weren’t compatible. Their paths had crossed for six years, but they were bound in opposite directions. Their divorce was relatively amicable.

After he had moved to Seattle, Vernon still came out and stayed with the kids at 714 Decker whenever Laurie wanted time away. On average he spent 3 or 4 days each week with them. During one of these visits, the usually cheerful young Lucy wouldn’t stop crying. He fed her expressed mother’s milk, burped her, changed her, sang and danced with her, but still she cried. Eventually, he cried with her until they both fell asleep.

By the time Lucy turned four, her father had moved back to Whidbey Island. He rented within walking distance of her home and spent as much time with her as he could. Neighbors grew used to seeing Lucy riding his shoulders down to the library. She had learned to read before first grade.

From Waldorf preschool through eighth grade, Vernon generally spent one day each week volunteering in Lucy’s school. While she was always welcome and frequently visited her father’s home, she always lived with her mother, except for those two years of spending half her time with him in an unfinished house in the alder woods. There they spent hours painting the empty backs of posters & hanging them on the walls

There are fond memories of the trail between her two houses. Vernon hung a swing in a bent cedar tree about halfway and that became a favorite spot. Twice each week, Lucy transitioned between her two realities by walking that trail with her papa. Every time she found a slug crossing the trail, Lucy would construct a little house of leaves to shelter it. Though they rarely saw the great horned owl, he frequently left them tufts of rabbit fur or owl pellets to examine.

When her father moved in with Martha Furey, he was even closer to 714 Decker. Now there was a new halfway point between her two homes. A large Laurel bush grew in the back of her Cuzuncle Daryl’s house. The spacious interior of the bush was completely surrounded by large shiny leaves and crossed by several thick horizontal branches that were perfect for climbing or sitting. Lucy developed a close personal relationship with that Laurel. She and Emily found and named the Forever Friends River. She learned to ride bike by stoking her dad's tandem.

Her idyllic life was disrupted by her dad’s trip to Africa, Martha’s reaction to his return, and the arrival of Majori. It was only natural for Lucy to resist the changes, but she was wracked with guilt over secret feelings and actions. The stage was set for a tumultuous adolescence. It would get worse before it got better.

Lucy has always had a circle of close friends, though individual friendships go through changes. Having lived all her life on south Whidbey Island, where the majority of the population is recent arrivals, Lucy has certain stability. She is highly empathic and very loyal to her friends. There was a time when she became too focused on the complex emotions of her closest friends. But she has learned to care for herself first, so she will always have the strength to maintain her friendships.

After a long courtship her mother finally married Andy O’Keefe, a fire chief and paramedic, and they moved to his house on 4th Street. For a time Vernon, Majori, Daryl (Vernon’s cousin) & Willow (Daryl’s daughter) lived at 714 Decker. Today Leaf lives there. In the new house, Lucy had a nicer room and summers with Megan, Andy’s daughter. She also had a stepfather with well defined disciplinary principles. Theirs has been a stormy relationship.

During Middle School Lucy found how much she could enjoy writing. Her fictional short stories gave her an opportunity to explore her complex feelings about family and got a positive response from all who read them. Though she enjoyed creating in various artistic media, writing was her favorite until she discovered photography in high school.

At this writing, Lucy is a freshman in the honors program at the Art Institute of Boston next year. Her future as a photojournalist looks exciting from this vantage…