Thank you for writing this book. I, too, have tried to shield my children and grandchildren from many of the painful memories that I have carried inside for years. I know it is because I thought it would be hurtful for them if I shared my memory of those experiences. I know now that they do need to know because by learning these things, they will be better able understand the love and courage of so many who went before them and it will help them to be strong when facing adversity. We are an interracial family and my children are proud of their heritage. They have never experienced, as my husband and I did, being subjected to Jim Crow laws in the south, being forced to move to another state so we could live and raise our children without fear. They can’t imagine how it was, when my husband was refused service in a restaurant in Louisville, KY, even though he was wearing his U. S. Army uniform and was with a group of enlistees who had been taken to lunch before boarding a train bound for boot camp. The white men ate in the restaurant;the black men ate in back in the kitchen at the direction of the Army officer who was leading the group. They were all going to be sent to Korea to fight and perhaps die for their country. Sad to say, the same situation still existed when he returned from Korea two years later. Our children must know these things and so much more. All of us must continue to work to make our nation a land of opportunity for all. Yes, we have come a long way but there is still far to go. Only when we all understand how it was, can we make sure our country will be the best it can be for all our citizens.
-Betty Ash
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