Grandma's Game Plan

My name is Sarah Miller, and at twenty-two, my suburban New Jersey life felt like it was shrinking daily.

The reason? Brenda Hayes, my father's "executive assistant," a title as flimsy as her tight dresses, who was steadily dismantling our family.

She was younger than my mom, Carol, and my father, Rick, was completely under Brenda's spell, treating my kind, gentle mother like a faded photograph.

I watched my mother's spirit dim, powerless, full of a quiet sadness that broke my heart.