How Dear To My Heart

About the Book

In her book, How Dear To My Heart, Mrs. Ryan writes of growing up on a farm with an extended family. She writes about each member of her family, about her experiences as a youngster and about the people and animals she met along the way. Topics of her essays include “School Days,” “The Churn,” “Home Cures,” “Taffy,” “The Sleigh,” “The Granary,” “The Banana Man,” “The Ice House,” “Rabies,” “Railroads” and “Railroad Men,” “E.S.P.” “Ice Cream,” “The Silo,” “The Outhouse,” “The Fenian Raids,” “Christmas,” “The Weeks [Family] Cemetery,” and “The Home Place.”

About the Author

Shirley DeLano Ryan writes: In a lifetime, beginning with early motor cars and wind-up phonographs and progressing to an International Space Station, there is a time period so dear to my heart: the days of my childhood, between World War I, when I was born, to World War II, when I was married. Growing up on a farm with my parents, four sisters, two brothers, and older relatives was complicated, humorous and inspiring. In this book, descendants may discover the source of their genes, and perhaps, the reader may also share a memory or two.