Finding Libbie

Emily is a young woman, in her early thirties who is helping her grandmother pack up the family farm. Her grandmother had sold the farm like most people in the area to developers. It is in her packing that she discovers a secret about her father, he had been married before he married her mother.

We then travel back in time to see her father, Jack, and Libbie’s story. Jack and Libbie are opposites in town. Libbie lives on the lake in town where all the wealthy live. She is very well off and is one of the popular girls in town. Jack however, lives on the other side of town. He is not popular. He’s not poor, his family has everything they need, however they are not as well off as Libbie’s family.

We start at the end of their Junior year of high school. It’s the year 1968, and Jack is in high school and has a crush on Libbie, and while dancing he tells her he is going to win her heart over the summer. And he does. However,  one issue Jack runs into is that Libbie’s mother does not like him. Mainly because of how well off his family is. This causes some tension between mother and daugher, and her mother repeatedly falls ill, something that has happened throughout Libbie’s life. She had never questioned it before, but now she wonders why. At the end of summer, both Jack and Libbie are concerned that Jack may be drafted into the Vietnam War, and this causes Libbie to have a lot of anxiety, to the point she needs to take medication to help her calm down.

We see the struggles Jack and Libbie go through as Jack has to deal with Libbie’s addiction, and her family that is always hard to please. Jack is constantly working hard to fulfill his promise, both to Libbie and her family, that he will take care of her, and keep her happy. Eventually, the marriage ends. Upon hearing about her father’s past from her grandmother, Emily sets out on a mission. She wants to find Libbie. She wants to know what happened to her and if she ever got her happily ever after.