8I invite you back to a simpler time, a time of innocence and faith, a time when Big Tech did not rule life. Whether you are of "vintage age" and wish to reminisce about the days of yore, or you are a Millennial curious about the horrors your elders were made to suffer growing up without tech toys, take this journey with me that promises to offer a quirky perspective on everyday joys and sorrows experienced from birth through young adulthood; there is so much humor and irony in life, if you just open your eyes to it. I was born in Kansas while my dad was attaining his master's at University of Kansas; having been born in the married student's housing, I am a true Jayhawk by birth! Our family settled in suburban Chicago, where I grew up and I enjoyed informal art endeavors, reading, archery, and had as many animals as I could possibly get my parents' permission to have. Our local high school put a heavy emphasis on the arts and, having that propensity already, pushed me further in that direction. Although I eventually put the art materials down, I turned to writing, and have found it to be an equally satisfying creative outlet throughout the years. My mother's sudden passing made me appreciate that life is short, and that if I had something to say to the world, I needed to get on it and do it; this book is the result of that realization. Currently I spend half my time in Chicago where I work as an office manager for an architectural engineering firm; the balance of my time is spent with my daughter, two dogs, four cats and a rabbit in Indiana, where I enjoy watching and feeding the wildlife on our wooded acreage.