Two Thousand Minnows
An American Story
A testament to human resilience and the power of hope, Two Thousand Minnows is the extremely moving story of an American family.
Sandra Vaughan, the oldest of three, was only eight when she protected
her mother against her father’s fury, helping her escape the house
in the midst of winter, and then retrieving her through an open window.
They had just moved to the isolated mountains of West Virginia to begin
their new life. A city girl, Sandra became lost in the magic of the long
hot summer days full of discoveries, from rope swinging into the clear
river to catching minnows, all while navigating her abusive and unpredictable
father. Then her mother, pregnant again, went to the hospital to give
birth and returned without the baby.
For the next ten years, her family--with her alcoholic father at the
helm, her mother battling depression--traveled across the country from
West Virginia to California and back again in search of stability, each
destination holding out the promise of this time “making it.” And
as we travel with Sandra and her family in their crowded car and precarious
truck back and forth across the country we come to realize, that in chasing
the dream they are actually running from truth. The truth about the mysterious
death of the baby unfolds. And with every move and adjustment, Sandra
becomes more and more convinced that the baby her mother said had died,
is in fact alive, and that a sister waits, somewhere out in the world.
In a memoir full of painful honesty, Sandra reveals tremendous fortitude
as well as frailty. It is her dogmatic belief in her lost sister that
propels her into the realm of magic, for it is truly a miracle that she
brings about: the secret is finally revealed – 20 years later--
and Sandra, performing a feat of bravery and hope, makes contact with
her sister.
Some people would call it luck, but luck means you don't know
what you're doing. I call it magic and magic takes practice."
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