The youngest son of a poor family in Bakersfield, California Joe recalls his early happy days in spite of limited means and rigorous field work in the hot sun. However, when his parents end their marriage and his mother is stricken with cancer, the pain and pressure of her trying times results in her turning to alcoholism and encountering a paralyzing grief that costs a pall over the household.   Joe’s memoir recounts his overcoming of poverty and tragedy of his childhood to forge a brighter path for himself and his three daughters and is written in loving memory of his mother, his deceased daughter Carmen G. Ahern and dedicated to his surviving daughters Yolanda H. Aguirre and Barbara P. Rivera.