When people heard we were closing the flower shop we owned and operated for forty years, the first question they asked was "What are you going to do when you are retired?" My standard reply was "Write a book', never dreaming it would really happen.I became active volunteering at the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. During a monthly guild meeting John and Sandra Hudson announced their involvement with a writer's group in Iowa City. They offered toorganize and lead a group at the museum if there was enough interest. This was an answer to my dreams and I immediatelysigned up. I have been part of this group and writing my stories since February 2014. Our group is limited to fourteemfull time members, adding new members and losing some over time.In 2018, the group published a book titled "Kaleidoscope" with stories written by seventeen different authors involved over time. It is available for purchase on Amazon or at the museum gift shop, and is a fun read. This inspired me to collect my stories, and with the immeasurable help of the Hudsons, publish my own book. It is all about me and my memories of life. They include the birth of our children, and the death of my parents to cancer, as well as my own diagnosis of a terminal illness. Since they are memories, there may be discrepancies from memories you may have of some of the incidents. I may also have embellished some of the stories, but they are written as I wish them presented. Five years in the making and a dream realized.realized.