Carefree

The author discusses his difficult relationship with his parents, especially his mother. For many years estranged from his sons, he explains how he and they made peace and became good friends through the efforts of their stepmother. Looking to the future, the author also includes his grandchildren. The story is told in word and picture, there being more than one hundred photos covering the span of a century. Is this an exceptional family? No, not in a political sense or social sense. It is family like many others, one that experienced laughs and tears, stresses and strains, triumphs and tragedies. The family motto was AD ASTRA PER ASPERA, "To the Stars through Hardship."