The reader deserves some explanation for this diverse collection of short stories. The collection is of groups of stories in rough chronological order. The first group is about family and oral history. Other groups are of the Service, Alaska, Cuba, the construction business, Hospice work, and old friends. I have fictionalized many of the pieces in the collection. Thus, Seamus is a fictional character, but the family knows who played the part. This device may seem odd, but too much can be revealed when standing and reading before writing workshops.