Julie MacNeil - The 50-Year Secret

PRAISE FOR

THE 50-YEAR SECRET

A remarkable woman begins a remarkable journey to find her birth parents when diagnosed by happenstance with a rare genetic disease. Alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency stalks families unknowingly, causing progressive liver and lung disease. A moving story of families, blended, broken, lost, and found, and the love that binds and heals them. It made me want to bring my own family closer and hug them tighter.

DOUGLAS S. ROSS MD, pulmonologist

I laughed. I cried. A triumphant true-life story about Julie and her unforgettable journey of trials, troubles, adolescent insecurities and insurmountable odds that puts her a head above the rest. Julies sheer determination, hope and relentless optimism shows us that our potential for growth is beyond the limits of our stature. A true recipe for fitting in by standing out.

LINDA J. BLACK, InTune Yoga Wellness, author/speaker/trainer

In the twelve-plus years I have known Julie, I was her manager and mentor for half of that time. Im sure Ive learned more from her than she ever learned from me. She firmly believes she can do anything she puts her mind to, and she has proven that many times in the past twelve years. She is one of the most positive people I have ever known. One of her mantras is Life is more fun when you are willing to take chances. This is definitely a key to her success. Classic Julie: if you want to get her to do something, tell her she cant do it... then get out of her way. She will win the battle with alpha-1 because she is Julie. This book is inspiring and a testament to her persistence. She has many stories to tell!

BRENT TYCKSEN, Amazon bestselling author of Safe Money and Living Debt Free

Congratulations, Julie, on a book that is easy to read and very captivating. So many emotions were triggered as I read through each of Julies stories. My eyes even got a little teary. Everyone will relate to The 50-Year Secret on one level or another if not on several levels. What a wonderful feel-good book!

BART MERRILL, author of Monetize Your Mindset

More than a tall tale, Julie shares her journey with grace and love, uncovering the past to discover what her future holds. A beautiful journey with a powerful message.

ANDY CHALEFF, author of The Last Letter

The 50-Year Secret

by Julie MacNeil

Copyright 2018 Julie MacNeil

ISBN 978-1-63393-738-3

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any otherexcept for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior written permission of the author.

Published by

210 60th Street

Virginia Beach, VA 23451

800-435-4811

www.koehlerbooks.com

Dedication TK

PROLOGUE

The best way of keeping a secret is to pretend there isnt one.

MARGARET ATWOOD, The Blind Assassin

SHE SAT ON THE WOODEN office chair, fidgeting. She didnt really pay attention to what was being said; the shrill voice grated against her bones. Shed heard it all before, so many times before.

It was November 1964, and shed moved around a lot the past few years. This was the third high school shed attended in less than six months. But this guidance counseloran absurd title, considering there was never any guidance or counseling offeredreally seemed to have it out for her. When Linda wasnt skipping class to avoid running into her, she seemed to live in Mrs. Waltons dark, cramped office.

Stand up! Mrs. Walton barked. That skirt is too short! The girl had made the black skirt from her moms leftover fabric. Lee likes it; hed told her so. She hated skirts, but girls werent allowed to wear pants.

She stood as ordered, but before she had a chance to adjust her skirt, which had crept up while sitting, the counselor issued her judgment.

I knew it! Too short! Supposed to be knee-length. Well, you certainly seem intent on making life extra hard for yourself, missy! Lets go.

Linda sighed and suddenly felt extremely weary. She thought of Lee while looking out the car window on the way to the youth detention home. The route was familiarthis was her fourth jail sentence on Mrs. Waltons watch. Okay, so smoking outside the church next door merited punishment. She had tried it just that one time. It was so hard to make friends in yet another new school, and the smokers in the parking lot were more accepting than most. But going to the detention house for skipping class and now for a skirt barely above the knee seemed excessively cruel.

Mrs. Walton looked smug as she handed Linda over. Im sure your parents will be thrilled to hear youre here again, Linda.

Linda desperately racked her brain, thinking of how to get out of this.

You cant keep me here. Im pregnant! Her sixteen-year-old voice quivered as she tried to look defiant.

Her lie backfired. After a pregnancy test, she discovered they could indeed keep her there if she was pregnant, and she was more surprised than anybody to discover she was.

Twenty-eight days later, she left the detention center to be transported directly to a foster home a few hours away. Shed spend the next seven months living with a family there until she had the baby. She wasnt allowed to go to school. There were no visits home, although her parents came to see her about once a month. Worst of all, she didnt get to speak to Lee before they shipped him off to the Navy. It was either military service or jail for statutory rape. He was eighteen, and she was still a minor.

Luckily, the family she lived with was kind and treated her well. When the time came, it happened fast. The memory was gray and clouded. She didnt remember the details of the hospital or the delivery. But she did recall how they whisked the baby away before she could hear it's first fragile cry. Was it a boy? A girl? Was it healthy? She would never know what it felt like to hold her child, to love and comfort her baby. Her childs fate would be decided by others. She lay on the cold hospital bed, powerless and alone.

Two days later she returned home to her family. Life continued as normalwork, laundry, fixing dinner. Only her parents and older sister knew what happened, but they were all good at keeping secrets, and no one ever spoke of it again.

Chapter 1

ROUND PEG, SQUARE HOLES

The world accommodates you for fitting in, but only rewards you for standing out.

MATSHONA DHILWAYO

THE BLOOD HAD ALL rushed to my head, and pieces of my long, dark hair brushed the grass. My legs were stiff and my feet started to go to sleep with tingly numbness. Just a few minutes more! I thought. I only had a few minutes before Mom hollered at us to come to dinner, so I clenched the cold metal bar of the swing set with the backs of my knees and hung upside down a bit longer, stretching my torso as far as I could toward the ground.

Julie! Scott! Diane! Mom yelled from the back door. For such a small woman, she had amazingly robust lungs. I swung my legs down, crouched for a moment as I waited for my head to clear, then ran up to the house. Id set the table before going outside, and now everyone was hurrying to sit down in their usual spot for Moms casserole.