Dani Bonner bio
Danielle Rose Brady was born in Oxford on November 7, 1989, to Edna-May and John David Brady. As an only child, she often entertained herself with fantastic tales of her encounters with spiders, cats, and talking automobiles, even though her strict, religious mother punished her every time she heard them. Edna-May felt the stories were the same as lies, which were "a slap in God's face," and she had no intention of raising a "foolish child" or encouraging her daughter's "frivolous approach to real life."
Her mother's rules only motivated Dani all the more. By the second grade, she was infamous for outrageous and sometimes cruel jokes on her classmates, forcing her mother to rigorously discipline her often and, ultimately, place her in a private school to "teach her some manners."
The only light in Dani's life was her relationship with her father, who adored his daughter. They often conspired against Edna-May and defied her iron hand by playing hooky from school and work, even though nine times out of ten, Edna-May found out, and there was hell to pay.
At the age of twelve, Dani suddenly lost her father to a heart attack, leaving her alone with her mother and without any true allies. To this day, Dani spends as little time as possible with her mother, who resides in Batesville.
Happily for Dani, another bright light entered her life during her first year at the University of Mississippi in the form of Zoe Chase (then Nancy Neidelmen). The two girls bonded and looked upon each other as the sisters they never had.
This friendship that delighted Dani and Nancy caused only distress for their parents, who suffered many sleepless nights over their daughters' antics. The Neidelmens blamed Dani for her bad influence on Nancy, and Edna-May blamed Nancy for her ungodly influence on Dani. It was so bad that the parents couldn't even be in the same room without an argument breaking out. Both Dani and Nancy regarded this as a hilarious circumstance and did nothing to smooth things over.
After graduation, Nancy (Zoe) returned to her native New York, leaving a grief-stricken Dani to fend for herself. Though they were in near-constant contact by phone, email, and text messages, it simply wasn't the same. Dani longed for the late-night chats of their school days and their mutual mischief-making.
Happily, about a year later, Dani fell in love with Ed Bonner, a carpenter with his own small business. He was a good, reliable man who worshiped Dani and treated her like a princess. When he asked her to marry him, she was thrilled and felt she had found her soul mate. She naturally had Zoe as her maid of honor at her wedding.
Over the years, Dani's passion for her husband has cooled somewhat, but her loyalty and love for him hasn't. Even though Zoe insisted Dani could have done better, Dani disagreed. When the Bonner twins, Patsy and Cynthia, were born, Dani thought life couldn't be any better—until the day Zoe decided to move to Oxford. Then, for Dani, life was perfect.
Dani is an excellent cook and has a good eye for design and color. One day, she will get around to taking those painting lessons she is always talking about.
