This is a book of stories compiled by the writer during his life's journey that illustrate eight basic themes of our humanity: Fear of the Unknown, Triumph over Adversity, Dreams and Illusions, Love, Hope, Despair, Faith, and Redemption that he has grouped into eight sections of the same names. Four additional stories are included in a section titled, Most Unforgettable Characters. Generally, the combined stories are about men and women who struggle every day to overcome fear of the unknown and to confront life's many adversities. They dream of a better life, and often fall short, but find a way to survive. So many times men and women dream for things beyond their reach and many times are disillusioned. They often struggle to find love, and to be loved, but sometimes lose their way. Many struggle between hope and despair throughout their lives clinging to a fine thread between despair and hope, that sometimes breaks. Usually the adversary they face is in the normal, but sometimes it is in the paranormal, realm. Sometimes their enemy is a demon they seek escape or refuge from in dark and dismal places. But always, life is a struggle. When facing life's pitfalls, sometimes people are funny, too, sometimes they sing, sometimes they make us laugh, their only way of coping. And those who are lucky, or blessed, find, and hold on to, faith (Substance of things hoped for, evidence of things not seen.) Finally, the author writes about men and women and redemption -- that even the worst sinners can be redeemed by the blood of the cross -- as in the story, The House of the Lost, and in the last story in this book, Amazing Grace. There are so many more examples of our fragile humanity, like grains of sand or molecules of air, and I hope that I have given the reader a few to think offrom my life's journey of memories.
