My name is Terry Bass and I welcome you to my virtual home.

This collection of short stories and anecdotes is a potpourri of experiences in our family over many decades. I just had to preserve them. They run the gamut, including the hilarious, miraculous, inspiring, disgusting, incredible, heartbreaking, thrilling, crushing, maddening, heartwarming, amazing, ridiculous, embarrassing, humbling, and pitiful experiences of a rich life. Memories of a lot that was right and a lot that was wrong are in these pages. My husband, Lowell and I both grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma surrounded by loving families. Our church was the center of our lives. It was the First Apostolic Church that we lovingly called First Church or West Tulsa Church. Many of these stories are of those people and those times. Lowell had 3 siblings and I had 5, as well as huge extended families, all a part of our world. The stories also extend to friends, neighbors and the great times growing up in the 50’s and 60’s. What an idyllic childhood we enjoyed! These short stories and anecdotes also cover our later lives and how we dealt with the circumstances that developed. We experienced things we never imagined could happen to us. I love families and I hope those reading these words find renewed hope and determination for their own challenges. As the years went by, the stories were centered in other cities and other churches where our family ministered. Besides our church work, Lowell and I had careers in law enforcement and nursing. We were involved with so many colorful, interesting people!! Their faces and voices live on in these pages. We experienced heartbreak and tragedy. Some of the stories take on a serious tone, as we faced catastrophic developments. Some segments address the ways we dealt with the hard times to keep our family together. We always had and believed in family values. Life gave us the chance to prove that. My hope is that struggling families will be encouraged by reading our experiences.

It has truly been a wonderful life!

The grace and mercy of God have carried us through in all seasons.