My Life Before Ev is a prequel to the book My Life With Ev, and combined with 55 Years Out of My Mind completes a trilogy of life from the 1920s to the 21st century. My Life Before Ev depicts the author's life from birth to marriage. It begins with the early years in Wheeling, West Virginia, and progresses through the teenage years, the college years at Muskingum College in New Concord, Ohio and the World War II years as a member of the United States Army Air Corps. The author describes the crushes he had from Peggy Smith in the second grade to Jean Nichols, his first true love, to Ev Sutherin, his last true love and wife of over fifty six years. The early years describe what life was like in Wheeling, West Virginia in the 1920s. The teenage years show the differences between the 1930s and now, including what Halloween was like then, and the disappointments incurred during those years. The college years explain what it was like to move away from home for the first time, and the experiences during the World War II Years characterize the maturation that fighting a war has on a young man. The last of the single years delineate the quality of life after the war, to graduation from college and meeting the girl which would lead to marriage. These are the memories of an octogenarian - from birth to marriage.