When We Were Five features a unique perspective on the harsh realities of continual, untimely deaths, and the never ending perseverance of life. It is the story of one mans quest to break free from 142 years of heart disease , and become the first male in his family to reach fifty. It is an emotional roller coaster as the reader watches the heart disease baton get inevitably passed down to the next male Gray in line, hoping and praying that someone will beat this dreaded monster.