LaVerne Brookover Uhte's story begins with her ancestor's 17 week voyage in 1754 from Europe to the British colonies in America. When the ship that carried Jacob Brookover from the land of his birth sailed into Chesapeake Bay, he found himself alone in a strange land at the age of sixteen. LaVerne tells how succeeding generations spread out in all directions from the eastern seaboard to the Pacific Ocean, and goes on to write about her eighty-five years, living through a time of accelerated cultural changes. _____________ As LaVerne puts it, "Although the present is all we have because yesterday is gone and tomorrow is not yet, I can't help being interested in the past - it helped shape me and the circumstances under which I live today. My DNA and the culture into which I was born came down to me from countless sources, each one contributing to the person I bacame." _____________ Every life is a story worth telling. She hopes that her stories will inspire others to face the future with hope and confidence.