This book is about family trials and family triumphs; it is about blood relatives as well as my Coast Guard family. The book draws from early memories of living hand to mouth after being launched into this world during the Great Depression. It is filled with interesting characters, most of which were family members. It is a true story; you canat make this stuff up. There are stories about my two grandfathers, both of whom were veterans of the Civil War and both of them farmers and fishermen. Grandfather Floyd was a Siouan Indian and grandfather Peadrick was a Scotch-Irish Presbyterian. Motheras family immigrated to North Carolina from Scotland in the mid 1700s. Fatheras family was here before there was a North Carolina. Tales in this book cover past and recent events, both poignant and humorous. Some of them occurred before the Town of Smithville, at the mouth of the Cape Fear River, changed its name to Southport. One of the stories defines the danger of living in Southport during wartime when German U-Boats prowled our coast. There are also some surprises along the way.