In this funny yet bittersweet memoir, author Howard Chislett takes us on a journey that spans twenty years of his life. By sharing stories of his early days-from growing up in a working-class area of Boston known as Jamaica Plain to landing his first full-time job-Chislett paints a realistic portrait of life in America during the 1950s and 1960s. After navigating the pitfalls of junior high and high school, Chislett graduates in 1961. He enters the workforce and finds that this new world offers challenges of its own. His first official job as a laboratory assistant lasts two years before he decides to earn his college degree. But his fractious attempts at higher education only serve as a blueprint of what not to do. It is during the miraculous summer of 1963 that his life changes forever. When Chislett asks his coworker, Joanne, out on a date, what follows is a whirlwind courtship that leads to a marriage proposal and a lifelong love.