For several years my mother had not been in good health, but I had no idea, when I parted from her the previous day, that I should never see her alive again.

Besides that, I had always had an intense desire to be with her when she did pass away.

One of the chief ambitions which spurred me on at Hampton was that I might be able to get to be in a position in which I could better make my mother comfortable and happy.

She had so often expressed the wish that she might be permitted to live to see her children educated and started out in the world.
In a very short time after the death of my mother our little home was in confusion.

My sister Amanda, although she tried to do the best she could, was too young to know anything about keeping house, and my stepfather was not able to hire a housekeeper.