She couldn't remember a time when she felt so alone, yet was surrounded...

by so many people, many of them recognizable to her. She knew somehow she should know them, but time has this funny way of being a great disconnecter. For most of Madeline's life, or the parts of it that she can remember, her family didn't have much to do with each other. At six her parents decided to pack up the house and move them clear across the state. It was traumatic for Madeline, as she had friends she loved there, a great school, and at that time, she loved visiting Grandma's house. It was everything a six-year old could want really. Chickens, cats, dogs, and her absolute favorite - horses. Yes, moving had been hard then. Now, nearly 20 years later, here she was, trying to reconnect with family that she had hardly spent three hours with in the course of two decades. Her mother had passed away a while back and she desperately wanted to feel a part of something, someone. Yet, here in this big room, where everyone smiled and talked up good ole' times, she realized they didn't know her, and she didn't know them. Her place in those good ole' times had been erased by time, confusion, and heartache. Madeline had to grow up too early. Somehow she was hoping to recapture her childhood here.