These are stories about life, the formation and consequences of our character, the nature of life's most important lessons, the need for experiential as well as intellectual, the always unknown cost of life-changing lessons, and the results: the fruits of that style of life, that character, offered out to the world. The guiding metaphor here is the old saying that "As the twig is bent, so grows the tree." I agree with Marie Montessori, that the experiences of about our first 25 years bend our twig: shape our character. Most of our basic style seems innate: present in the crib. But how that is developed depends on the nature of our experiences and influences.