Of her own memories, novelist Ellen Hopkins states, Now that I have opened that bottle of memories they’re pouring out like wine, crimson and bittersweet. So it is with Vashti Ataya’s MEMORIES: Chronicles of a Grateful Life. As a military dependent, Vashti’s formative years were shaped in rural Oklahoma, Germany, and Panama, places and spaces of extraordinary memories.

Her bottle of memories from early childhood to young adulthood slakes one’s nostalgia for a more innocent time as vintage wine satiates one’s palate for a choice, carefully selected beverage. Memories bittersweet, poignant, inspiring, and hilarious fill Vashti’s decanter. Pop the cork, twist the lid, remove the cap, open the book, savor the stories, and enjoy memoirs of a life well lived, these Chronicles of a Grateful Life.