The completion of this book took a great many years out of my life to accomplish. It has been a source of healing, discovery and acknowledgment to the people and family I have written about. To their memory I hope they are pleased. As a boy in Indiana I would often sit on our porch of our home and daydream of heros and events as most boys do, but my childhood was quite lonely. My mother was busy in the family store; all my sisters were older, and they were gone for the most part, so all I had for my company was my little dog, Peewee, and a lot of time to ourselves. When I was about eight years old or so, I joined the traffic boys at school. They were in charge of seeing students across intersections to and from school. I was assigned street corners to oversee. It was my first introduction to responsibility, and I loved it. I left with the rank of lieutenant and some needed command experience. In California, in high school I had auto shop and public speaking and was a member of the varsity gymnastic team. I graduated in February of 1957. The next forty-six years took me from singlehood to marriage and three children, through three divorces, to the completion of this book. Along the way I lost two sisters, my mother, and my stepfather. It seems that life has many downsides and we must work very hard to make our good times as best as they can be.