Sara Louise Bradshaw Timeline and Summary

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• Louise is born the first of two twin girls, but her twin sister, Caroline, quickly comes into the world and steals all the attention. Ugh.
• Growing up, Louise is constantly in Caroline's shadow and lives with a mother, father, and grandmother who have a hard time remembering what she was like when she was a baby. Sigh.
• Louise takes music lessons along with Caroline, but her sister soon passes her by—just like she does with everything else. Sigh.
• In the summer of 1941, Louise is 13. She enjoys crabbing and hanging out with her humorless best friend, Call.
• At home, everything is Caroline, Caroline, Caroline, and Louise slowly grows to despise and resent her perfect sister.
• On December 7, 1941, Louise hears over the radio about the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
• Soon after, a strange man comes to town whom Louise suspects might be a German spy.
• Turns out, he's not a spy—he's just an old man who used to live on Rass Island years ago.
• Call and Louise visit the Captain nearly every day and spend time helping him rebuild his house. Louise doesn't like it much.
• In August, Louise stops at Auntie Braxton's house and finds her nearly dead. Yikes.
• When the Captain suggests they drown Auntie Braxton's cats, poor Louise just can't take it.
• Of course, Caroline swoops in to save the day, finding the kittens new homes. Jerk.
• A week later, Louise helps her father prepare for a coming hurricane.
• The Captain actually loses his house in the storm, and he comes to live with Louise for a few days.
• Louise thinks that if she puts lotion on her hands, she can soften them up. When she sees Caroline using her lotion, she throws the bottle at her.
• Later, Louise is heartbroken when Caroline tells the Captain he should marry Auntie Braxton so he'll have a place to live.
• Call starts to work with Louise's father and, hence, hang out with Louise a whole lot less. Later, he leaves to join the Navy.
• During a visit with the Captain, Louise mentions that the kids on the island should be sent to a special boarding school.
• The Captain takes this to mean that Caroline should be sent to a special boarding school—and he offers to pay her tuition. Drat.
• Louise decides God must hate her.
• Louise leaves school and starts crabbing with her father. She's pretty miserable.
• The war ends, and Call comes home ... only to reveal he's engaged to Caroline. It's yet another heartbreak for Louise.
• Louise does not attend Call and Caroline's wedding in 1946.
• Instead, she stays home with Grandma and learns that the mean old lady has a sad past of her own.
• The Captain asks Louise what she really wants to do. Perhaps be a doctor?
• After an argument with her mother, Louise decides to do just that, so she leaves for college and ends up becoming a nurse-midwife.
• She moves to a new town where she cares for the people and meets her future husband.
• Later, after caring for newborn twins, Louise is able to let go of the bitterness she feels toward her sister. Yay.
• She returns home to bring her mother from Rass Island to live with her in Truitt. This means there are no Bradshaws left on Rass. Sad.