An inspiring childhood autobiography, although written at my son Marks request, is a tribute to my tall, strong, gaunt mother as she struggled to raise twelve children during the poverty of the early 1900s and the Depression Era. As I reflect back over all those early years and how the deprivation and hard work shaped our character and ultimately governed our lives, I see how it made us strong and strengthened us to withstand and persevere through the adversities and storms of life. Childhood is such a wonderful age. As the generations of today read about my life as a child during the first half of the Twentieth Century and the Depression Era, perhaps they can just begin to appreciate all the blessings they have in this present Twenty-First Century.