Yes, It All Really Happened

The primary purpose of this project has been to leave a description of middle-class American life as experienced during the second quarter of the 20th century to those in my kinship system who were born decades later. This collection of autobiographical vignettes --for which I plead guilty of enhancing with fictitious dialogue in order to craft a story --provides a literary context for reconstructing the actual events, only segments of which are sequestered in memory. In other words, I am determined that in so doing I am involved as much in explanation as I am in entertaining. I am acutely aware of the fact that in this memoir a greater emphasis has been given to my pre-teen years. This imbalance was provoked by sage counsel to restrict the size of this book. Hence, a number of stories emerging from experiences occurring, and/or endured, throughout my high school and college years --indeed, a number sufficient for more than another book --were pulled from the manuscript, but not deleted from my computer. The dialogue in each story admittedly involves some fabrication. But the persons, the places, and the various features of each historical context are actual and true. Given my subsequent understanding of the personalities of those principally involved in each story, in crafting the scenarios I have not hesitated to propose what I believe might have been an approximation of what may well have been the actual dialogue. Ergo, although each story is not absolutely authentic from beginning to end, with respect to the centering experience in each case, YES, It ALL Actually HAPPENED! B.C.B.