Letters to Joe

About the Book

A naive adolescent girl from Ohio desperately seeks comfort and safety by moving to her father's home in Illinois after her parents' acrimonious divorce. Reflecting many of the norms and cultural conventions of small-town Midwestern life in the very early 1960s, Peggy struggles to make sense of her middle-class family's disintegration but finds neither lasting comfort nor safety in either environment. Peggy longs to understand her complex new world, even as she struggles to come to terms with the loss of her old life, a happy and stable life gone mad and turned upside down. Peace—forever a process, never a destination--will take many years for Peggy to achieve; but what will meanwhile both help and frustrate her is the young man whom she loves both because of and in spite of himself. Until his premature death at age 75 years, Joe will unknowingly serve as her guide along the journey of a lifetime as he helps, even beyond the scope of this book, to shape her ultimate destiny. Writing in the epistolary genre and under a pseudonym, the author takes the reader deep inside the psyche and perspectives of Peggy and multiple other persons with whom she associates, many of whom can recognize early-on how tenuous her hopes and dreams of a mutual future with Joe will likely be. This is a story of the effects of disintegrating families and reflects the sting of abuse, betrayal, and the perils of alcoholic behaviors. Beyond all that, this is the story of a teenage girl who will at times frustrate you, amaze you, exceed your expectations--and ultimately break your heart. “Letters to Joe” is a jewel that illuminates and reflects adolescent sincerity and tenderness even in the face of teenage humiliation and rejection. A “must-read” for parents, youth, and anyone who has ever pledged to love another human being unflinchingly from first glance to beyond the grave.

About the Author

Patricia Sue Coxon Abrahamon grew up in Fremont, Ohio and has been interested in literature and writing throughout her lifespan. Patricia is a 1966 graduate of Kent State University, where she majored in English and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Secondary Education. In 1981 she earned a Master of Arts in the Teaching of English at Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Throughout her five years of teaching, however, Patricia kept alive her goal of one day publishing this novel, the contents of which were more precisely understood and honed during her work as a mental health therapist. Choosing to be on the cutting edge of her profession, Patricia enrolled in the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio where she followed the Clinical track and majored in Children, Youth and Families. This author graduated Case in 1995 with a Master of Science in Social Administration degree. Throughout her professional career Patricia has also taken hundreds of hours of continuing education, including specific coursework in Chronic Ailments and Issues Related to Aging. Holding independent licensure in both Ohio and Colorado, Patricia's career of over 30 years in the field of mental health has taken her around the nation as a Social Work Consultant, and she worked as a Regional Consultant and Mental Health Therapist in Northcentral Ohio for several years. The combined experiences during her remarkable career have contributed to the in-depth understanding of the youth portrayed in this novel. Patricia says her third career will now be devoted to writing, and “Letters to Joe” is her first official novel. You won't be able to put down this book once you start reading—it is a real page-turner! “Letters to Joe” is also a jewel that illuminates and reflects adolescent sincerity and tenderness even in the face of teenage humiliation and rejection. A “must-read” for parents, youth, and anyone who has ever pledged to love another human being unflinchingly from first glance to beyond the grave.