Book excerpt: From earliest childhood, the author has lived in a rainbow world, surrounded by the astonishment of remarkable and loving adults. She rarely contemplated the realities presented by a polka dot world in which the grey and tan dominated the red and gold. Growing up in the American West where the freedom to achieve appeared unlimited, she reached for it all and embraced both the people and adventures she found at her fingertips. This is the story of her life as it reflects the unfathomable beauty of her childhood blessed by American freedom.