The author says of this book, Memoirs from the Lakeside - - "Over the years I have told many stories of things that happened in my life. I finally decided to write these stories as a series of memoirs. These memoirs were generated over many years and many situations. They range from my childhood to quite recently. There are stories of joy, love, happiness, excitement, wonder, amazement, adventure, and excitement, at least exciting to me. There are also stories of despair, tragedy, anger, disappointment, frustration, and other negatives. Life comes in all flavors for most of us, some of these are not so great. A few of them carry a great deal of pain, mostly now long past. There are even a few revelations that could surprise and possibly distress some of my family and friends. The truth is not always pretty. "I enjoyed a wonderful childhood as part of a loving family of several generations. I have been blessed with a terrific family both up and down the generations. I also have many dear friends, mostly from the many church families I have been part of during my entire life. Mostly with my family and friends, I have enjoyed a full life with far more ups than downs. I am fortunate to be one who revels in and remembers the dear people and good happenings while mostly minimizing and forgetting the bad. For this reason, even the stories about bad things emphasize the positive lessons learned from these negatives. Bumps in the road, even wash outs, teach one how to avoid the rough places and pitfalls. "The collection of quotes, essays, letters and other writings represent words and ideas that have had a positive teaching effect on me. Many of these are my own. They are mixed in with the words of others that I listen to and use to good advantage whenever and wherever possible. They were collected from many sources, mostly during the last fifty years of my life. I often page through these and read them over and over. I add to my collection regularly and perhaps there will be another book of memoirs with another group of quotes and other writings I find uplifting and informative. Of course, the time for collecting is getting short at this point in my life. "I hope my family and friends enjoy my writing. I certainly do. It is a treasure to sit at the Keyboard and turn thoughts into the written word to share with others. The following is a quote from the Preface of Memoirs from the Lakeside." "I was an avid reader for many years devouring all kinds of literature. Once I started writingat age seventy, my reading time gave way to mostly writing time. It has been this way ever since. To me, writing is so much more rewarding. Certainly I would like my words to be read, but my main pleasure lies in the writing. I would write even if I knew no one would ever read my words. "So think about writing. If there is a story or memory in you, give it the wings of the written word. Who knows how many others you may touch."