This is a memoir about growing up in Lakewood, a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. It is a memoir about Ohio, a memoir about childhood, a memoir about high school, a memoir about friends. Especially, it is a memoir about family. The stories are funny, sad, poignant and reflective of the times, 1939-1952. Chapters cover birth and extended families, Christmases, World War II, the neighborhood, social life, elementary to high school, church and Sunday school, the wider community, earning money, school years, and summary reflections that put the memoir in the context of literature on growing up in a hometown community.