Ancestry connects one generation to another to claim one's heritage. This book is a tribute to the author's grandparents, his aunts and uncles, and all other ancestors. It is also a story about the author's experience growing up on a farm during the Great Depression and World War II and his relationships with his cousins, who were his surrogate siblings, and his teachers. The setting was a segregated southern community with all of the limits on opportunities for which such places are famous. This work details the triumphs of these ordinary people over the obstacles and challenges that faced them.