Joanie and James were two larger-than-life people who were also very grounded in Appalachian culture, stringing multigenerational families facing the challenges of post-Depression days, anchored in the rich soil and majestic, blue Smoky Mountains. Their love story, while not unique necessarily, was inspiring and heartwarming and reached into future generations to provide a path and a promise. To my beloved husband Brian and Elsie Butts (my mother-in-law), without whose help, unflagging support and belief in me this book would never have been written or published. My heart. This is a work of fiction any similarities between persons living or dead is unintentional