Betty Downs was born in Sarles, ND in 1928 to a tight-knit farming family, complete with three older brothers. In 1951, she married the love of her life: the "feisty red-headed boy" from up the road, Vernon Downs. The two moved across the Great Plains following Vern's work as a diesel mechanic, all while raising four rambunctious boys in a mobile home. These adventures, as a farm girl, a wife, mother, and widow have inspired her works. She is over-the-moon to finally have her most cherished writings together in one book and hopes it is passed down, inspiring new generations of writers, genealogists, and adventurers.