- Ben thinks back to when he was seven years old and lived in Eudora, Mississippi.
- His dad was a judge and a famous one, too (at least in his little town). But it was his mom who everybody knew well.
- Louellen Corbett was known as "the Poetess of Dixie" for her simple poetry about southern hearts, which was featured in Woburn's Weekly Companion.
- Everybody loved Ben's mom.
- One day he and his mom went down to the fabric store to get some blue velvet for some curtains his mom was making when she suddenly began slurring her words and not making sense.
- Ben thought she must be sick, but the clerk said she was drunk—this is what happens when you drink a little too much whiskey.
- Ben was confused, though, because his mom didn't drink.
- He didn't have much time to think about this before his mom collapsed on the floor.