“At some point, after consulting with one of her former clients and friends, Arvind, Bette ended up in Singapore, where she found out, following a check-up with a heart doctor after experiencing some shortness of breath, that she had a hole in her heart – it turned out to be a congenital ailment.”

Brad shook his head, “That is a tough deal, right there.  Heart-broken, thousands of miles from family and friends, and then you find out you’ve got a heart problem, on top of everything else.”

TJ nodded his head, and pursed his lips, then continued, “Well, as she pondered about what she could do, she got an interesting offer that she felt could help her figure out the rest of her life.”

Angie picked up from TJ, “And that was where her life-long passion to involve herself in charity work started.  She joined an organization that helped rural women learn basic financial skills so that these women could branch out and build their own mini-businesses to supplement their incomes.  While working in rural areas with these women she grew close to the man who led this volunteer organization, Martin Mourin. When Bette decided she had to move on, he lent her a copy of The Republic. As she read through it, and contemplated what Plato had to say in it, Bette realized some truths: including what she was missing in her life, the last point at which her life made the most sense, and where her future lay.”

“With Tina,” Haley sighed.

Just then, a signal in TJ’s tech beeped. As Angie continued the story, he excused himself from the rest of the group, stood , and walked to a corner of the “study room.”

“Hi mom,” he greeted the caller warmly.

“Hi honey,” Bette answered. “Just wondering how everything is going over there?”

“Ended up ordering pizza, mom. We ended up working longer than expected. Angie and Bailey are still here…”

“Oh? They didn’t go out?” Bette asked in a surprised tone.

“No. They had to work on a few other things with Jason. Bailey called the guys they were supposed to meet up with. They decided to come join us, actually.”

He heard Bette’s soft chuckle. “Thomas, are you cramping your sister’s style?”

Flustered, he responded, “No, mom! Honestly, I had nothing to do with it! They gave those guys an out and Bailey said they could hang out tomorrow, instead. But the guys asked … on their own … if they could join us and…”