This book came about as an assignment in a therapy session. I couldn't relate my story smoothly because of the many moves we had made throughout my childhood, so in order to expedite the telling, Dr. Blank wrote an order on her prescription pad: "Using all five senses, describe how each house you have lived in affected the person you are today." As the tale began, I had to fight the inclination to number or bullet each one, and as it progressed, I began to see the houses as separate entities and drew them in, as if under my wing, to nurture, cherish, and believe in. "He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home" (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe).