Hannah's Girls: Elaine

Elaine’s family has just moved back to Grand Rapids, Michigan. Living in a new house on a different street promises to be lots of fun! Elaine and her sister, Marcia, hope that there will be nice kids in their new neighborhood, and there are—except for Monica. Even though they try to like her, they just can’t. But shy, quiet Joanie from down the street does something that changes everything.

Camp meeting is the highlight of every summer, and this year is no different. Meeting up with old friends, weathering a fierce thunderstorm, and waging war on unsuspecting camp guards add to the fun. The excitement doesn’t stop once the family returns home: a tornado shakes the house, Elaine takes a trip to the hospital, and someone must save Marcia from drowning.

Winter brings heaps of snow, and the girls build a snow fort down the street. A snowball fight breaks out—girls against boys! At a family reunion, Uncle Steve recalls a long-forgotten tale of a mysterious stranger and tire tracks in the snow.

This is Elaine’s story—the fifth in a series of six true stories about Adventist girls: Ann, Marilla, Grace, Ruthie, Elaine, and Erin. Elaine was born in 1961. Her daughter, Erin, is a teenager today. When Erin was born, Grandmother Ruth wanted her to know that she was a sixth-generation Adventist, as well as a thirteenth-generation American girl whose ancestors helped to establish their country, the United States of America. But most of all she wanted Erin to know that her greatest heritage is that she is a child of the heavenly King—royalty indeed—and so are you!