Carly hated Melody because she wanted her father to always give her whatever she, Carly, wanted. This had been true all of her life. Courtney had custody of Carly and her younger brother while they were growing up and was endlessly generous, taking them on outings to the ocean and for camping in other places frequently.
Her mother Debra, was working until she married again and her last name became Raco and so saw the children only occasionally on weekends. See Debra to the right.
This ended when Courtney began living with a girl friend in Oakhurst. Carly hated the lady, and would hate all of the women her father was interested in, putting a stop to the relationships as soon as she could.
But in the winter of 1994 Courtney met Melody, who had been divorced for 15 years and had two children by her first marriage. The marriage had not worked out because she and her husband had very different views on women working and Melody was determined to get an education and become a nurse. Melody earned her degree at Porterville College and went to work for, from which she retired in
At the time, Melody's daughter was married and her younger son, Alex, was 15 years old and had been living with his grandparents who were living in Rockaway, New Jersey for the summer having graduated from Sierra Academy in Exeter.
The two met, had lunch, and began dating. Six months later, they decided to marry. Melody supported Courtney, who took a part-time job so he could care for his elderly parents.
Melody never gave up on Courtney, though he was not perfect, making judgement calls on who to trust, which proved to be very problematical. During their marriage Melody took extra hours at work, in one year working every day, including weekends and holidays. Her diligence, concern for her patients, and kindness to everyone who knew her resulted in her contributing 60% of the money brought into the marriage. But to Melody what mattered was making Courtney happy.
