On the morning of August 15, 1635, off the coast of Pemaquid, Maine a ship thrashed at anchor. The 250 ton Angel Gabriel had arrived at one of the most beautiful harbors on the east coast of the New World. In the midst of the frantic task of off-loading the vessel, those with a weather eye knew that trouble was brewing. The Angel Gabriel was about to be set upon by a storm that history would call the "Great Colonial Hurricane." Among the immigrants huddled on shore, watching as their only link to the old world was torn from its moorings and dashed on the solidly pre-Camprian rocks of Maine, were Ralph and Elizabeth Blaisdell, and their son, Henry. They had risked all, left the family and home they knew in England, and traveled to a primitive land, burning every bridge behind them. History tells us that they not only survived, they flourished. In That Blaisdell Blood we see that in the near future the first woman, a Blaisdell woman, is preparing to be sworn in as President of the United States. She will take that oath of office on a Bible filled with almost 400 years of carefully preserved letters of Blaisdell mothers to their daughters. It will be a blood oath. I am a direct descendant of Ralph and Elizabeth. Their story is my story, and it forms the prequel to a vision of the future. This book tells the story of a woman preparing to enter into both power and history. As each step in her carefully orchestrated day leads her closer to the oath of office, she finds herself thinking about the past and the hold it has on every part of her being. That Blaisdell Blood is about the evolution of a family and a country. It folds actual events, large and small, into a narrative that includes the Blaisdells living ordinary lives in extraordinary circumstances. It is a story of triumph, and what success really costs.