This is a brief journey in the life of a young girl, Barbara Long, growing up in the rural south. It's a small town with a few stores, post office, doctor, vet and a riding stable. Most of the activity for the young people stems from the school.

The Longs own and operate the hardware store. Carl and Betty Long live upstairs with their three children, Jerry (17yrears old), Barbara (12 years old), and Megan (10 years old) Carl's mother, Sarah Long, better known as Grams, also lives with them.

Just when everything is wonderful, Barbara has a new puppy and a job at the stable her Mother becomes gravely ill. There is a riff between Barbara and her best friend. she feels the excitement of her first crush which nearly costs her the job at the stable. She also experiences the loss of a loved one.

Barbara has many lessons to learn during the year. She has lots of responsibilities heaped upon her. Will she learn to evaluate things and prioritize them? Will she learn that things are not just automatically there for you, you have to work for them? Will she be able to handle the pressure of these situations? Can she keep her spirit or will it be broken?