This is the story of a woman's tenacious fight to put her families' stories on paper. Death didn't stop it, cancer tried and failed, and other insidious diseases ate around the edges. But, in the end humor prevailed. A native Southerner, haunted by shadowy images of mad dogs and tramps, the author staunchly believed that tales needed to make it onto paper. She never dreamed that scattered attention spans would be her most formidable foe. Whether the characters are real, fictional, or a combination of both, they share a common thread: when life throws stuff your way that sets you off course, it's the ballast you use to set it straight that matters.