9781422288221

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T HE B IGGES t D ECI S ION OF T HE IR L I VES

W hen Mrs. Brown learned she was pregnant again, her first feeling was fear. Pregnancy and childbirth had been hard enough when she was in her twenties. She could not imagine what it was going to be like now that she was forty-six years old. Mr. Brown was fearful, too. He was frightened for his wife and her health, but he was frightened for himself as well. Even if all went well with the pregnancy and birth, many more struggles would follow. He and his wife weren’t young anymore, and he knew that the diapers, doctor appointments, sleepless nights, and endless demands of yet another baby would not be easy. Then there were other things to consider. Soon big college bills would be rolling in and wouldn’t stop for twelve years—the amount of time it would take for their three existing children to graduate. How were they going to pay for a baby and college at the same time? Worse yet, when their new baby was finally ready to go off to college as well, Mr. and Mrs. Brown would be sixty- four years old—an age they had hoped to spend in carefree re- tirement. So Mr. Brown held his breath. Mrs. Brown cried some sleepless nights. And they both wondered what they were going to say to their children. Krista, Phillip, and Jonathan had been totally unprepared for the news. Family conferences were a rare thing in their home. So when they were called to the kitchen table for “a talk,” the children’s

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