Early memories are precious to us all. They may be colored (like our beloved Blue Ridge) by the scrim of distance or glossed by sentiment, but they retain their value because they carry flavors that we would never exchange for simple facts. In these stories, certain themes recur: how children with few financial resources amused themselves with astonishing creativity; how difficult routines of common daily life could be; how self-sufficient not only children, but also parents and grandparents had to be in a time when technology was represented by running water in the house or an electric light bulb. Some of the tales show the odd, painful, and often humorous ways in which their authors learned some of life's most useful lessons. By reading them, you may recall some events in your own past you thought you'd forgotten, and surely you'll feel the satisfying resonance of shared experience.
