My memoir connects my birthplace, life and work experiences to more than a dozen African countries, places in South America, and all of the states in the Southern and Mid-western United States. The memoir is shaped by family history, as seen through my interpretation of the American experiences of six generations. I believe it is fair to say that I have extensively researched my family background based on oral histories, census documents and, of course, my life and work experiences. The narrative covers the descendants of Abe and Carolyn Sampson; their trials, tribulations, and triumphs as an American family. A good portion of my understandings have been derived from participation and observations of family gatherings of 3rd and 4th generation members around the dinner table at 115 Melon Street in Laurel, Mississippi during my childhood. These memories are stored in my “childhood tapes”, a valuable tool that allows me to travel through the summer forest of my mind and board the cockpit in my time machine. From there I assess life situations up close and from afar without regard to the period in which they occurred.