Six years ago, my dear wife of 43 years was given a life sentence without parole when she was diagnosed with ALS, aka Lou Gehrig’s disease. I soon found myself without a job and her full-time caretaker (which I am honored to do). During this time, I discovered that it is cathartic and even therapeutic, to write about my experiences. And in doing so, I found that my past greatly influences the way that I handled our hardships. My family is from the little hamlet of Evening Shade, Arkansas, and much of my character and the way that I look at life were formed during my early years there. Our family, friends and spiritual faith are helping us through the difficult times. When people ask “How are you doing?” my typical, yet sincere, response is “We’re doing better than most people would be doing in our situation.” And, we are. Our support system, our faith and our optimistic attitudes are seeing us through. Obviously, other people are going through difficult times, too. While their circumstances may be different than ours, they're also painful. It is my desire to share my reflections on our experience so that we might bless others as they “walk through the valley of the shadow of death,” so they, like us, will “fear no evil.” Made in the Shade will resonate with anyone going through a time of hardship, as we all do. Certainly, those who rely on their faith will find great encouragement in this book. And people who hail from small-town America will connect with the somewhat Waltonesque, or Garrison Keillor-like casual style of writing in this book. The storytelling illuminates unique personalities from the “Evening Shades” of the world and will provide an avenue for reminiscence of a passing era.