When Betty Jane Clem began this project, she thought of her poem collection as reflections on the people, places, events, and inner development one experiences through life. Her experiences centered on mental, emotional, and spiritual development. Writing enabled her to integrate what impressed and influenced her. She believes this kind of journey has value for others. This brief volume fulfills her dream to share her progress toward wholeness. Ms. Clem spent her youth in Staunton, Virginia, where she enjoyed the close family atmosphere. She received a BA degree in English from Radford University, and a master of divinity degree in theology from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. She spent twenty years in ministry with the United Methodist Churches in Ohio and Virginia. She changed employment when her emotional health was impacted by life events. She spent the following twenty years on the national staff of the American Red Cross, working with and for the people that make our world diverse. Betty Jane is in the seventh decade of her life and says she has learned as much from writing about life as she has from living it. In retirement, she fills her days observing the world around her, creating word pictures of what she learns, and enjoying music, gardening, and reading. And yes! She is a dog person.