veral stories. Most of them are about experiences with my own immediate family, but some have been told to me by my extended family and friends. All of them are true. In some cases, I have changed the names of those involved for obvious reasons.

Good stories must be preserved so that future generations can enjoy them. As a family historian, I so wish that I had talked with my parents about their lives. It would have been fun to have recorded more of their stories. Fortunately, I recorded a few of them before they passed away and included them here.

Besides entertaining the reader with this book, I hope it inspires the preservation of your favorite stories.

Some of these stories will hopefully make you laugh. Some may make you cry. With others, you will shake your head and wonder what these characters were even thinking. But then, I always think wisdom is obtained by making mistakes and learning from them. Some are stories of faith while others are left to fate. There will be twists and turns. However, in the end, lessons learned.

Most involved the first time I encountered another person. I have included stories where we experienced something for the first time. Just for fun, I threw in a few funny family stories for good measure. Sometimes, I felt a little like Forrest Gump with a few close encounters with historical figures.

All are short vignettes, or as my sister calls them, "little slices of life." So please sit back and enjoy the ride with me.