The secure world that I lived in, filled with my grandmother''s love, and shared with a host of relatives, fell apart when I was ten years old. My mother, who had always cared for her family, and was the driving force in my world, decided one year, during the greatest season of the year, that she no longer wanted to farm and work in the cotton fields of Mississippi. After discussing her desires and not being able to convince my father to go North, she packed a suitcase, and a few days before my favorite season of the year, she left my father and her five children and went North in search of a better life. "The Whole of My Life, A Personal Memoir" is a book of stories; a reflection of life and its meaning. Come join me, on this personal journey.