Plunged into poverty by the Great Depression, Mary Joy tells how—after losing their home in Minneapolis—she and her family lived off an acre of land in then-rural Eden Prairie township. Volunteer work during a political campaign in 1968 led to a job offer that launched her back into the work world. Mary Joy's memoir covers the ups and downs of her 27-year career in government, corporations, the University of Minnesota, and environmental organizations—rising from a secretary role to an executive level. She also tells about her 40-year marriage, her mid-life metamorphosis, and her people-to-people diplomacy experience with Russian citizens during a Volga River cruise in 1990.