Experience turn of the century life in a small Midwestern town where the visit of President McKinley causes reporters to miss a nearby manned flight more than four years before the Wright Brothers. Attend the last concert of Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens in Iowa before their tragic plane crash in 1959. Witness the disruption of family life when sex scandals within their church challenge their beliefs and values. Observe how an advisor to Secretary of State Colin Powell loses the respect of his extended family that disputes positions both have taken during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Feel the psychological trauma, and occasional renewal, of those whose lives have been upset by unexpected career altering circumstances. These and other events are captured in this collection of short stories where real and fictional characters interact in historically meaningful situations.