At last Nora felt secure. Mama sealed it, signing the lease to move into the Buena Vista Apartments. Lisa had been good to them, letting Eloise and Nora share a bedroom in her home over the last year. Lying on her bed, Nora thought about her mother. She looked a lot like her, only her mother was a couple inches shorter with a slightly darker complexion. Otherwise, Nora had the same straight black hair and large brown eyes. Eloise had given birth to her at nineteen, but Nora never knew her father.

Lying quietly, she could hear Lisa and her mother’s voices. Tonight she didn’t have the urge to eavesdrop. She knew they were talking about the move and the new apartment. Her thoughts shifted to the nice surprise of seeing Miss Marshall. She never forgot the day she stormed out of her class. If only she could take it back—still, she was thankful for Mrs. Brown’s help.

Nora went even further back in her memories when she and her mother made the hardest move ever.

***

April 1966

It happened in the spring of sixth grade. Nora had spent March and April working hard on a science project. Mrs. Welch, her teacher, paid close attention to her progress, and said so as she stopped by Nora’s desk, “You should enter your project into the District Science Fair. It’s good.”

“It’s not.”

“Don’t doubt yourself! Using a windmill to create energy is inspiring. Write up a good explanation, and you have a chance of winning an award.”

Nora hesitated before saying, “You really think so?”

“I do.”

Those two simple words inspired Nora to enter the competition. Several weeks passed and she had almost forgotten about the Science Fair until her teacher received the results. To Nora’s surprise, she came in third place. She couldn’t believe it.

“Congratulations! I knew you could do it,” Mrs. Welsh said as she patted Nora’s shoulder.

Nora grabbed her hand. “Thank you.”

Mrs. Welsh smiled and squeezed Nora’s fingers. “Be sure and invite your mother to the Awards Assembly.”

Hurrying home after school, Nora couldn’t wait to tell her mother. “Mama, I can’t believe it, I won an award. It doesn’t seem possible, I came in third place in the Science Fair. There’s an Award Assembly tomorrow at two; please say you’ll come.”

Her mother threw her arms around Nora. “Terrific! I’m so proud of you.” Happy for her daughter, Eloise didn’t want to dampen her spirits as their lives were about to change again.

Bad news had come earlier in the afternoon. Eloise couldn’t forget the foreman’s words. “I’m sorry we have to let you go. With business slowing down, we need to cut back. You’re our latest hire and the first to go.”