This, That, and Everything

This, That, and Everything shares the true and often hilarious account of the starts, the stalls, the reverses, and the restarts of Norma Nightingale's life. It covers the whole range of her life, from childhood to becoming a grandma and beyond. In a memoir that is humorous and sad by turns, she recounts her life, which began as the sixth of eight children born into a Holdeman Mennonite family. Their way of life was to live in simplicity with economy and modesty-including the way they dressed and how they conducted themselves, not drawing attention to themselves.

She tells of her childhood growing up in central California on the property of the Gallo Winery, where her father worked. Her marriage at seventeen to Winston Nightingale, who was eighteen at the time, opened a new and exciting chapter in her life, first in California and later in Kansas, where her husband was offered a new job. She talks of her devastation at discovering that, after having three children, she had early stage cervical cancer. Happily, she survived and thrived in Kansas with her family.

This, That, and Everything is the charming memoir of a woman who continues to live her life to the fullest, with love, hope, and a wonderful family.