Memories of the Way It Was is a random collection of my thoughts and memories of my life. As an elderly adult, I have time to sit for hours and reminisce and remember moments from my past. I have time to analyze the past moments of my life and how these past moments have helped shape me into the person that I am. In the pages of this book, I have written stories about friends and relatives from my past and present. I have written a partial accounting of my family's history according to how it was told to me and from my personal observations and experiences. I was there in the flesh to live these moments, and I am left with precious memories. All my life, I have had vivid dreams that seemed real. Strange and unusual things happen in my dreams. Strange and unusual things happen in my life. I was raised by an extremely superstitious mother who had prophetic dreams. My head and heart are filled with memories of so many things in life that my parents told me. I have so many memories of my siblings and the things I learned from them. The days that I lived are gone forever. The way things were will never be that way again. These days will only be remembered by those who lived them or from the pages of the books written about those moments from the past. Those days are gone forever. Soon these memories will die with those who lived them. That is why I have written twelve books full of the way life was in the 1940s up until the present day. My mother used to tell me and my siblings stories of her past. I wanted my children and grandchildren to know her stories as well as my own stories. The next generation will have stories of their own to tell, but life as my parents lived it and as I lived it will never be again. When I explore my memories of the way things were, I believe we were once better people than we are today. As I get older, I find that a lot of things no longer matter. It does not matter to me who my relatives were or where they came from. All that matters is that I was born and had the privilege of living the four seasons of my life in God's beautiful world. Ultimately, we are all God's children and brothers and sisters in Christ. We are all connected through God. My book is written in no particular order. Each chapter is a stand-alone story that can be read randomly just as it is written. Each chapter is a piece of my life and heart. I pray that my stories and ramblings will stoke memories and bring pleasure to anyone who reads them. I am thankful for the people, places, and the events that make up the days of my life. I am incredibly grateful for the life that God has allowed me to live.