Stogger Bay made up the corners of five Counties, with each meeting in the middle of the Bay. Because of its emensity it had been argued the Bay should be reclassified as an inland sea, though only the officials had those thoughts. The constituents had other ideas, and expressed those ideas at the election polls, as each official who fought to have the Bay reclassified was voted out of office.

The problem then became one of how to survey where the County lines ran into the Bay, a daunting task as all five County Engineering departments and several registered surveyors had to come up with a way to accurately locate the exact point where all five Counties met in the Bay. After several brainstorming sessions, and consultations with others who faced similar situations, a method was devised and after several months, that exact point was located. They’d already contracted for a special marker to be made, one which would be placed at the bottom of the Bay at that exact point. It would be made out of alloys which could resist damage while being submerged under water. The idea was to drill a shaft which would accept the pipe the marker would be attached to, then pump special hydraulic cement down the pipe through an opening left in the center of the marker. Because the shaft would be a few inches wider than the pipe, and only inches deeper, they’d pump until the cement completely filled the shaft around the pipe. Then a GPS marker would be placed in the center of the marker to not only seal up the opening but allow the marker to be easily located. A marker buoy would then be attached by a chain made of the same type alloys as the marker, that contained a solar panel which would then power lights that would come on at dusk and flash throughout the night. The other thing they did was to place lighted boundary marker poles at the shoreline around the Bay which made it easy to know where the boundaries of each County ran into the Bay.

Some years ago the five Counties got together and agreed on a plan to put a wide two lane highway, with wide shoulders, circumnavigating Stogger Bay. They also included campgrounds, picnic tables, rest stops, and General Stores which would be stocked to serve activities which would occur around, and on, Stogger Bay. The stores were needed because if a person started from point ‘A’ and drove either clockwise or counterclockwise around the Bay, they would arrive back where they started five hours later.

One shoreline alone was 100 miles long, having within it a 20 mile long 200 foot high vertical cliff, which slowly descended at both ends until it rejoined the water level shoreline. The top of the cliff was completely flat, and extended some four miles away from the Bay before it too descended and joined the land beyond. Scattered on top of the cliff were rock outcroppings, which geologists believed were remnants of huge rock walls which had once ran down into the Bay. But time and weather had destroyed these huge walls and left craggy piles of rocks at the base of the cliff and out in the Bay.

Jenelle Conner was sitting on top of the rock outcrop near the picnic table her family was using for the picnic lunch. She thought how easy it would be to stand up and pretend her feet slipped out from under her, and allow herself to slide off the outcrop and onto the craggy rocks 200 feet below. It would only be a moment and then the fear, pain, and anger she felt for so long would be gone. She had just given her legs the command to stand, when another thought muscled its way into her mind, asking one question. ‘What about Patty?’ The muscled in thought then stood back and watched Jenelle’s reaction. And hoped.

Patty is Jenelle’s eight-year-old sister, who at five years of age had been diagnosed with Leukemia. Jenelle had been nine at the time, but that didn’t stop her from being there for Patty at every turn in her treatment. Julie, their mother, couldn’t comfort Patty the way Jenelle could, and it was Jenelle, over the doctor’s objections, who was always with Patty, at Patty’s demand, when a chemo treatment was given. Or held Patty when the pain was so great all Patty could do was cry. Or after a chemo treatment, or when radiation was given, was with Patty when she was vomiting into the toilet. Nurses and doctors alike often found Patty curled up in Jenelle’s arms during the night, the only way Patty found to sleep as soundly as she could. And it was Jenelle who was with Patty when the family learned Patty had come out the other side victorious. And she’d continued being victorious these past three years.

‘What about Patty?’ It was a thought Jenelle hadn’t considered. During her time in the hospital, she and Patty had become closer than most sisters. They told each other things only a sister would tell their sister, and Patty knew about Jenelle. The experience with Leukemia had caused Patty to become an adult much faster than the years would allow, and her questions to Jenelle often went unanswered by Jenelle since they were questions only an adult might ask. Even questions about Jenelle herself.

‘What about Patty?’ Who would look after her as Jenelle had done? Could she find someone who’d let her ask the questions she often asked? Without criticizing her or making fun of her? Would Patty feel comfortable enough to talk with their mother as the two girls talked to each other? Oh, sure, one day there would be the mother/daughter talk, but not the talks the two girls often had. The muscled in thought stood back and hoped a decision was about to be reached, if only for Patty’s sake.

And the muscled in thought jumped for joy, as much as a thought could jump, as it watched Jenelle’s initial decision fade into the void. It was no longer needed, so it too faded away, but not into the void. It faded into the recesses of Jenelle’s mind.

Jennel had been so lost in thought the sound carried by the wind was lost to her. Even when the sound occurred again, her thoughts closed her ears to it. It wasn’t until a gentle hand was placed on her shoulder, and gently shook her, did she hear, “John, son, come on, we’re packing up our picnic lunch so we can get to that movie you wanted to see.” It was Jenelle’s dad, Dale Connor, and it was John’s twelfth birthday.

Dale helped his son down from the rock outcrop, then put his arm around the boy’s shoulders as they started walking back to the picnic table. John was shocked when his eyes met his mother’s eyes, and she openly nodded her head, yes. His face went into a puzzled look, but Julie’s head only nodded yes more vehemently, as their eyes met again. John’s abrupt halt to their walk caused Dale to also stop, and look down at his son. John looked up to his dad and asked the man, “Dad, can we talk?”

Dale saw tears forming in John’s eyes, some of which had begun their downward journey on the boys’ cheeks. Dale moved until he was kneeling in front of his son, and gently reached up to wipe the tears off the boy’s cheeks. Dale also saw the fear in his son’s eyes, and the pain, and told his son, “John. You can talk to me about anything. I’ll never make fun or embarrass you for what you say. You are my son, my expression of the love I have for your mother.” More tears slipped out of John’s eyes, and the look of fear in the boy’s eyes increased. Dale decided to take a chance and asked, “Are you afraid what I might do to you if I found out you’re really a girl inside? Are you afraid I’d throw you out of the house? Or beat you within an inch of your life. Or send you somewhere so you could get your thoughts straight?”

The look of surprise on John’s face caused Dale to chuckle, and John to ask, “H-ho-how did you find out?” Dale put both hands on John’s shoulders and told him, “Patty was worried about you, she told your mom and I. She thought you’d do something to hurt yourself permanently, today, at this spot. After everything you’ve done for her over the years, she was scared for you.” The dam broke. John threw his arms around his father’s neck and cried on his shoulder. As John cried on his father’s shoulder, Dale softly told his son, “You never have to worry about being thrown out on the streets. You are our child, and all of us will be there for you. Never be fearful when you and I need to talk, I’ll help you anyway I can. I love you, Joh...I can’t keep calling you John. Have you chosen a name for yourself?”

It took several minutes for John to calm down before he pulled back and looked his father in the eyes. Through a thick throat, he said, “Jenelle Amber Connor.” Father and daughter were close enough to Julie and Patty for the two to hear everything being said. So when Julie and Dale started laughing, Jenelle looked at the same confused Patty, who merely shrugged her shoulders in response. Dale had been laughing so hard that he’d put his head on Jenelle’s chest. And when both parents stopped laughing it was Julie who said, “Had you been born a girl, we were going to name you, Jenelle Amber Connor.” It took Jenelle and Patty a few seconds to realize what their mother had just said, but when the strangeness of John’s chosen name struck them, they too began to laugh. Which of course caused their parents to start up again. With tears still in her eyes, and a chuckle still in her voice, Jenelle threw her arms around her father’s neck, pulled herself in close to him and told him, “I love you daddy!” It took Dale a few tries to clear his throat before he told Jenelle, “I love you too, sweetheart. And I always will.”