This story is about the resilience of the human spirit, following three generations of activist families and the author as child and adult in the context of radical change movements of the twentieth century. The constant chant from the author’s mother, “When all the children in the world are happy, only then do you have a right to be,” was character defining, as were her many traumatic experiences growing up during the McCarthy era “witch hunts” of the 1940s and 1950s. History of her grandparents participation in an educational commune, alternative living styles, and researched labor union history provides an exciting backdrop.