Her name is Rhonda Ledbetter, and at fifteen she has seen a lot through her young eyes. She is innocent at heart and nieve about the outside world around her. The day of the party, she had been wishing to God that he would just take her out of this world into Heaven to be with him. She was a shy girl, very withdrawn. She kept to herself and didn't let too many people in. She felt all alone in this big world and for good reason. Rhonda had a very difficult childhood. Her father left while she was a new baby to go off to the Vietman War and when he came home he was a different man. He had lost himself in that other country somewhere, and he was never to be found again. He was not a man that could love a small quiet daughter who hadn't had a chance to know him. He didn't want to know her. He wanted nothing to do with her. Oh yes, there were times when he would pick her up and hold her for a while, but that was the extent of his affection. He had lost his soul in that war. He was doing crazy things to her mother, Phyllis, horrible abusive things. When Rhonda was about four he had taken to walking around the house with his rifle, very paranoid and it was very frieghtening for Rhonda. She had bloody noses through the days and was physically sick in her sleep at night, all from the stress and fear. Her grandparents were her savior in this time of upheavel in her life. They would pick her up in a heartbeat, all she had to do was pick up the phone and they would drive from one state to another just to get her. She would stay with them for months at a time. Her mother had a nervous breakdown while they were still in Germany. The army sent them stateside to get away from him and then it was over. Rhonda never saw or heard from him again. But the memories would always be there, the fears would always be there and neither showed any intentions of going anywhere for a long time. Unfortunately, her mother made another serious relationship mistake and married a man who ended up sexually abusing Rhonda for about a year. When she finally had the courage to tell her mother, it didn't turn out the way she thought it would. Her mother ended up still living with him for another two years. He started his abusive ways again and Rhonda moved out of their home to live with her grandparents. Things took a drastic change for Rhonda at this stage in her young life. She made friends with a destructive behavior and began a gradual descent into the impending ruination of herself. She found it funny that her best friend ended up being someone with her name. They would have the best time going out partying, meeting guys, saying things like "Hi we're Rhonda" or "I'm Rhonda, no I'm Rhonda." It was fun. Niether one of them had a problem getting boyfriends and they both went through quite a few of them. Unfortunately all that partying also meant a lot of drinking, something that became a big habit. It felt good. Her head being fuzzy all the time, numb, forgetting everything but what was going on at that moment. Rhonda knew that it was not something that she was raised to do or believe in doing. She knew that it was wrong, but it felt good. She felt like she needed to feel good on the inside sometime or she was going to implode. So to Rhonda this was just going to be another party.  

James Lee Strong died In August 2008 of lung disease.
he was 41, and still the keeper of my heart. This book has been complete for some time, now the ending must be rewritten.  It is obviously going to be much more sad and tear jerking than I wanted or intended...bare with me as I come to a place where I can write the ending here for all....