Sadie's Birthday
It wasn’t long ago, in a town called Vancouver, Washington, there lived a little princess named Sadie Mae Puzak.
Sadie was turning three years old—three! That felt very big.
Sadie had a busy, wonderful family:
One older sister who knew lots of things
One younger sister, baby Josie, who was still learning everything
Two older brothers who were already quite grown-up
Sadie’s favorite person to play with was her brother Ollie, who was just one year older. Ollie was funny and brave and always ready for an adventure.
Sadie loved Baby Josie too… but sometimes Sadie would look at the tiny bundle in the swing and think, Why did we need another sister? Our family was already perfect. Then Josie would make a silly face, and Sadie would giggle and feel her heart get soft again.
Sadie’s mom and dad were terrific—at least, Sadie thought so.
But Sadie’s dad did something strange.
He went to work at night.
“Dad,” Sadie once asked, “why do you go to work when it’s dark?”
Dad would say, “To buy toys and chocolate…