Joanne Smith - The 13th Gift - Part One

Contents Cover Title Page Dedication Epigraph Copyright Foreword Chapter 1: The First Day of Christmas Chapter 2: The Second Day of Christmas Chapter 3: The Third Day of Christmas Chapter 4: The Fourth Day of Christmas Chapter 5: The Fifth Day of Christmas Chapter 6: The Sixth Day of Christmas Moving Memoirs eNewsletter Write for Us About the Publisher

For Rick, my very first true friend, and our three most precious gifts, Benjamin, Nicholas, and Megan.

On the twelfth day of Christmas,

my true love sent to me

Twelve drummers drumming,

Eleven pipers piping,

Ten lords a-leaping,

Nine ladies dancing,

Eight maids a-milking,

Seven swans a-swimming,

Six geese a-laying,

Five golden rings,

Four calling birds,

Three French hens,

Two turtle doves,

And a partridge in a pear tree!

HarperTrueLife

An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers

77–85 Fulham Palace Road,

Hammersmith, London W6 8JB

www.harpertrue.com

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published by HarperTrueLife 2014

FIRST EDITION

Text © Joanne Smith 2014

Cover photo © Ttatty/Shutterstock, pkline/iStock,

Tsekhmister/iStock, claudio.arnese/iStock

Cover layout © Nupoor Gordon and HarperCollins Publishers

A catalog record of this book is available from the British Library

Joanne Smith asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Find out about HarperCollins and the environment at

www.harpercollins.co.uk/green

Source ISBN: 9780008118112

Ebook Edition © December 2014 ISBN: 9780008118136

Version: 2014-11-24

Cover

Title Page Contents Cover Title Page Dedication Epigraph Copyright Foreword Chapter 1: The First Day of Christmas Chapter 2: The Second Day of Christmas Chapter 3: The Third Day of Christmas Chapter 4: The Fourth Day of Christmas Chapter 5: The Fifth Day of Christmas Chapter 6: The Sixth Day of Christmas Moving Memoirs eNewsletter Write for Us About the Publisher

Dedication Dedication Contents Cover Title Page Dedication Epigraph Copyright Foreword Chapter 1: The First Day of Christmas Chapter 2: The Second Day of Christmas Chapter 3: The Third Day of Christmas Chapter 4: The Fourth Day of Christmas Chapter 5: The Fifth Day of Christmas Chapter 6: The Sixth Day of Christmas Moving Memoirs eNewsletter Write for Us About the Publisher For Rick, my very first true friend, and our three most precious gifts, Benjamin, Nicholas, and Megan.

Epigraph Epigraph Contents Cover Title Page Dedication Epigraph Copyright Foreword Chapter 1: The First Day of Christmas Chapter 2: The Second Day of Christmas Chapter 3: The Third Day of Christmas Chapter 4: The Fourth Day of Christmas Chapter 5: The Fifth Day of Christmas Chapter 6: The Sixth Day of Christmas Moving Memoirs eNewsletter Write for Us About the Publisher On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me Twelve drummers drumming, Eleven pipers piping, Ten lords a-leaping, Nine ladies dancing, Eight maids a-milking, Seven swans a-swimming, Six geese a-laying, Five golden rings, Four calling birds, Three French hens, Two turtle doves, And a partridge in a pear tree!

Copyright Copyright Contents Cover Title Page Dedication Epigraph Copyright Foreword Chapter 1: The First Day of Christmas Chapter 2: The Second Day of Christmas Chapter 3: The Third Day of Christmas Chapter 4: The Fourth Day of Christmas Chapter 5: The Fifth Day of Christmas Chapter 6: The Sixth Day of Christmas Moving Memoirs eNewsletter Write for Us About the Publisher HarperTrueLife An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 77–85 Fulham Palace Road, Hammersmith, London W6 8JB www.harpertrue.com www.harpercollins.co.uk First published by HarperTrueLife 2014 FIRST EDITION Text © Joanne Smith 2014 Cover photo © Ttatty/Shutterstock, pkline/iStock, Tsekhmister/iStock, claudio.arnese/iStock Cover layout © Nupoor Gordon and HarperCollins Publishers A catalog record of this book is available from the British Library Joanne Smith asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books. Find out about HarperCollins and the environment at www.harpercollins.co.uk/green Source ISBN: 9780008118112 Ebook Edition © December 2014 ISBN: 9780008118136 Version: 2014-11-24

Foreword

Chapter 1: The First Day of Christmas

Chapter 2: The Second Day of Christmas

Chapter 3: The Third Day of Christmas

Chapter 4: The Fourth Day of Christmas

Chapter 5: The Fifth Day of Christmas

Chapter 6: The Sixth Day of Christmas

Moving Memoirs eNewsletter

Write for Us

About the Publisher

Dear Readers,

I learned the lyrics to “The Twelve Days of Christmas” carol as a kid in grammar school choir, when the magic of the holiday season still filled me with a sense of wonder and possibility, a dreams-come-true mentality. Partridges and pear trees, ladies dancing and leaping lords—I had thought the words of the tune farcical. I didn’t know then that the key to happiness was hidden within its silly stanzas.

I had spent my life grasping at those five golden rings: a husband, three healthy children, and a comfortable home. Then just before Christmas in 1999, my beloved husband died in the night, and I realized my gold was fragile as glass.