Born in 1929, just in time to welcome the collapse of the world's economy, the author lived on her grandfather's wheat farm on the Canadian side of the north Red River Valley. The day she celebrated her tenth birthday, Canada declared war on The Axis Powers. That year, her mother took her, her brother, and sister to live in Rapid City, South Dakota in the United States of America, forever.

In 1951 she graduated from Yankton College, married Richard Eskelson on Bastille Day and moved to Texas. Richard, Marion, and their children moved to San Diego, California a few years later. There, in a house purchased in 1957, everyone grew up and now lives happily ever after. Somewhat remodeled, the house remains home to this day.