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Thomas J. Shannon is Vennie's third husband, and she is five years his senior. They are also first cousins. They don't let this prevent them from falling in love and marrying in 1928, but they have sufficient regard for the wellbeing of children to avoid inbreeding and refrain from having children together. However, Vennie has a young daughter from her first marriage—a child Thomas raises as his own. Vennie is a refined Southern lady. Meanwhile, her husband, "Tommy," is the son of impoverished Irish immigrants who grew up first to mine coal and then to protect and serve as a state police officer. The Shannons largely raise Vennie's namesake granddaughter, surrounding her with inexhaustible love and instilling family pride. She'll need both to overcome the hurt and betrayal in her lineage. No family is perfect, but Tommy and Vennie have enough love for a new generation.
Anderson does not flinch from discussing the perceived oddity of her family structure and freely admits to the existence of numerous mysteries concerning her ancestors. Some are whimsical, such as the significance of her grandfather's middle initial, which he never reveals. Others inspire speculation, like Vennie's undisclosed reasons for divorcing her second husband. Sensitive grandparents guide a young girl through the awkward changes of puberty, and this memoir contains no account of sexual abuse. An unfaithful first wife sets the author at ease years after her infidelity, diffusing a situation most memoirs recount as painful. Unconditional love extends to animals, including a cheerful, clever blue parakeet and an aging, cross-eyed, but loyal Siamese cat. Photographs mentioned in the text appear in a gallery at the end. Gentle humor yields to poignant sorrow and returns again, helping make this work almost a guide for how to write an engaging memoir.