The past belongs to everyone who was there. What do you remember? ADD YOUR STORY
Your Stories
This book started when Liz sent Diana a story she wrote about our dad’s funeral. Diana remembered it differently, so she wrote her story. Soon, we realized that the past belongs to everyone who was there.
So, if you were a fan of our mother’s on Search for Tomorrow, partied with Amanda at the Pyramid, were in detention with Dan at Trinity Pawling, or have any connection whatsoever to any of the characters in this book, we want to hear your story.
Add Your Story →
After Topher Burns bailed on him, Dan was homeless. The Hayes, a local family whose son Brad was also a freshman at Fox Lane, invited Dan to live with them. Unfortunately for everyone, things didn’t work out as planned. This is Brad’s story.
“Until my parents kicked Danny out of the house, I enjoyed one of the best freshmen years a high school boy could ever have. The circumstances of Danny’s arrival were never discussed and in hindsight it makes sense that we’d want to tip-toe around the unfathomable tragedy of his life and that he would choose to just keep moving forward. Who would want to look back after losing both parents and being separated from your three sisters because of logistics? For Danny, go-go-go was the only option he had other than falling apart in front of friends and a family not his own and in the end I think that it was this inability to slow down that forced my parents’ hand.” Read more →
Shortly after both of her parents died in a car crash, leaving her in the care of her older brothers, Rita often stayed at the Welches. She became Liz’s best friend and roommate during their Junior year at Fox Lane, but moved out when our mother’s illness became too painful for Rita to live with. This is Rita’s story.
“When my parents died, Liz and I were friends, but not yet the friends we would become or still be to this day. She is my “forever” friend. We go months, even years, without contact. Life gets in the way. I took one path, and she another. When we do get together, we reconnect in a way I have with no one else. It is always as though we were always together. We have developed a connection and an understanding that no one else can understand. I think that is because Liz and I spent so much time together through our most difficult time in our lives.” Read more →
Heather Hauser has never met any of the Welches – well, at least not in person. She did, however, watch our mother on Search for Tomorrow, a bond that she shared with her own mother. This is Heather’s story.
“Please forgive this weirdness but felt compelled to share: I am sitting here reading Glamour magazine and seeing an excerpt from your new book. I look at the pictures and see your mom and say, “Oh my gosh, that’s Eunice!” Well, I can’t immediately remember how or why I know that, or if I’m even right, until I go to your website.
Lisa was Dan’s first love. They broke up in college, but their relationship was momentous for both of them. Dan shared his memories of their time together in the book, from their first kiss to their painful break up. This is Lisa’s story.
“I met Dan the summer before my sophomore year of college, and fell madly in love with him. It’s kind of hard not to fall in love with him. He is an amazing person.” Read more →
Jeff Welch is our cousin, the son of our dad’s brother Don. This is his story.
“Looking back, I have very vivid memories of both your parents, but there were those long stretches when I didn’t see them or you guys. Then all of a sudden I’m at your dad’s funeral. Not long before I was in our grandfather’s hospital room, with my dad, saying our goodbyes. The grandfather coughing up bits of blood and tissue, decades of heavy drinking and unfiltered Camels gaining the upper hand. As it turns out, we’d missed your dad’s visit by a few minutes. He died in the car accident on the way home from that visit. Grampy made it. I think this was the first time when I saw how the script sometimes gets it horribly wrong.”
B is Diana’s best friend, and she first appears in the book when Diana goes to her new school a year after our mother died. Diana remembers becoming best friends right away. B remembers it a little differently. This is her story.
“Apparently, Diana and I had known each other since we were two, although I didn’t remember that. When Diana returned to the school where we both had attended pre-school, I was hesitant to connect with her.” Read more →
Liz Subin was Liz Welch’s best friend growing up. Liz Welch wrote about their thirteenth summer in the book — the two spent it at the country club, inking the Doors logo on their Treetorns. Though they went to different high schools, they stayed close. This is Liz Subin’s story:
“Liz was perfect. Cast as Gretel in the “Sound of Music” portion of our middle school production, she was a perfect blond angel sitting center stage and waving to the adoring audience as she sang, “the sun has gone to bed and so must I…” I loved her immediately.”
Karen Kayser was our mother’s good friend. She is a prominent character in the book, as she was Dan’s guardian and her apartment in NYC was the hub around which Liz, Dan and Amanda rotated the years immediately after our mother’s death. This is Karen’s story:
“Time is such a funny thing. It passes so slowly or so quickly, depending on the mind. Even though Ann has been gone for 23 years, I still remember our times together as if it were yesterday. The memories are very dear to me, filled with such happiness – and a few regrets. I treasure every one.”
Maureen was one of Liz’s best friends in high school, one who Liz wrote about recruiting to babysit seven-year-old Diana for a summer so that she could spend it with her AP French class in Angers. This is Maureen’s story:
“I lived with the Welches the summer before my senior year of high school, when Liz went to France. Coming from a strict upbringing, I was looking forward to experience the freedoms Liz had. No adults! No rules!”
