Book excerpt: After eighty-some years of being a student in this Schoolhouse of Life, I felt an emotional urge to document both to myself and my world that I truly was here - that I was more than the author of another poetry book. Grandma's Memory Lane fulfilled my purpose, and also became a way of acknowledging some important people who helped make these memories with me. My family's history is like a prize-winning forest of hybrids. The dominant one that influenced my life the most was an Oak Tree - my dad. It was 1931. The United States was just a few years into the deepest and longest-lasting economic downturn in its history. And even though my strong Oak Tree worked double time to keep food and care for his new family, his first daughter felt like her world was a make-believe magical fairy tale. Her dad, though tired from a long work day as a truck garden laborer, still found time and energy to make little child-sized furniture, a homemade sack and trapeze swing, and a little riding car that ran by push-power and was the envy of neighborhood children. My first home was located in a small truck-gardening community where neighbors were more like extended family members. The women did quilting bees and hosted homemade ice�cream parties. Kids played outside after dark, and parents didn't worry about them. Though the feeling of fear was predominant in most of the States, my first dozen years were a blessing of rich soil this Acorn needed in order to be ready for her own future family of Saplings and Acorns. So now, let me in poetry form, introduce you to how this family was formed. Remember, we're all constructing our own Memory Lanes and will have shared them with others. But you are the Memory Keeper . . . so love yourself and enjoy the life you were given.