How could a mother distribute her children across the county and then just walk away?

That was the question burning in Bea's mind. All she could do was watch as her mother shattered her family and then just left. Bea may have been the oldest, but at thirteen, she was still a child. And now it was up to her to take care of her five siblings.

Through struggle and sacrifice, Bea embraced her unchosen responsibility. When her father brought in a cruel, selfish woman who didn't like children, Bea's undertaking became one of survival.

Bea's story begins in 1925, during a time when things were hushed, private, hidden. Heart-wrenching memories of the incidents that happened in her home, and how she and her siblings prevailed. An accounting of grief, sorrow, strength, endurance and love in an era when America was struggling.