YESTERDAY

About the Book

Every story in this book is true. Each one happened to a real person in the real world in real time. However, although the title of the book is “Yesterday”, the stories did not happen in the real yesterday. “Yesterday” is meant more like some time ago, or even a long, long time ago. In fact, “yesterday” in this book is more like “not today”. It is a remembrance of times past.

About the Author

Some people look forward to having great family reunions, bringing together siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents to share a day or weekend of fun, games and good food every few years. Patty Hartje Busby, however grew up inside a perpetual “family reunion”! One of seven children herself, she lived within walking distance of both sets of grandparents as well as several aunts, uncles and cousins. This close-knit family was where Patty says she heard and experienced may unforgettable stories. Of the large family it was only Patty who at 4 years of age contracted Polio in the epidemic that swept through the California Bay Area in the early 1950s. That illness was sort of a blessing in disguise, she says now. “It put me in the position where I got to hear many more stories! I didn't sleep well in those months when I was paralyzed, unable to take care of myself, and the grown ups around me took turns staying up at night with me, telling me stories and reading books as they massaged my feet and legs.” She believes that her love for literature germinated from those sessions. As a little girl who could never run as fast, jump as high, skate or ride a bicycle as well, Patty spent most of her childhood observing, reading and writing. She recalls that the thought of being an author came to her when she was about first grade. By the time she was twelve years old she'd already filled an old apple box with stories she had laboriously written. Stories she read aloud to her dolls, but hid from human eyes. As a teen she did become bold enough to share them with her sisters, but not very many others. “I was always concerned about what people would think of me and my writings, so I mostly left them hidden in the back of my closet or under my bed,” she says. “I knew that didn't make much sense, since I was determined to have my dream come true some day! But that was the way I was.” She left her dreams wrapped in the box of yellowing paper with faded scribbles for a new life filled with college, marriage, music, children, and careers in nursing and teaching. When her children were very young sometimes Patty did more “scribbling”, and a few of her stories were accepted for publication. Others were filed away for later, because somewhere in the back of her brain and deep within her heart, Patty still wanted to write a book. The “Post Polio” that she now experiences has lead Patty to a quieter life again, and she has brought her stories back to life. Yesterday is a compilation of some of them. Retired and living with her husband in the Pacific Northwest, USA, Patty now plans her own family reunions for their three children and two grandchildren. Stories abound on these special occasions. “It thrills me to listen to the kids saying things like “Remember when....?” and “When I was little....” as they laugh and talk together. And I'm quite happy when they ask me to join in with memories of my own. It's how it all began for me years ago, and I'm excited to see the tradition being carried on into the next generation.”