Maggie, Freddie's Mom

     Just below is a picture of Maggie, Freddie's Mom (the kids and everyone else call her just that, Mom).  For a long time Mom didn't want her picture in this blog but Freddie finally prevailed.  There is a possible source of confusion here.  Mom is married to Freddie's Dad, John Napier Plato, Jr., (Jack) but neither she nor Jack  is biologically related to Freddie, Richard and Kwanlee.  Mom is Chinese by birth, of course.  She was born in Haikou, Hainan Province, China, the ancestral home town of the kids, and met Jack through a friend of the family there.  The kids are devoted to Jack and Maggie, and they are the only parents Freddie or Kwanlee have known.  That is almost true for Richard, the oldest, but he does remember his birth parents because he was eight years old when they were killed in a small plane crash in Australia.  Richard was in the plane but miraculously escaped serious injury.  Jack and Maggie are softies and have actually made Freddie sort of the de facto head of the family.  Freddie is very strong-willed and incredibly intelligent while Jack and Maggie are laid back.  Even though Richard is six years older than Freddie, when she gives him an order, and means it, he salutes.  The kids are devoted to each other and to Jack and Maggie and they have a wonderful family life.
                                                                                               Dorrie Lane
                                                                                               Family Friend
                                                                                                    (and Richard's Psychiatrist)