"Satchel of Dreams" tells stories of growing up with hope, disillusion, laughter, and tears through 1950s and 60s in Staten Island. "The Children's Ward" brings readers into a Catholic hospital on the island and studies the short-lived friendships that defined mortality for a seven-year-old boy. "Lake Hopatcong" introduces readers to a hospitalized hero of WWII and his brunette nurse, with whom he fell in love and married while on crutches. "The Route" follows a candy distributor in the South Bronx and the unplanned pathways in life, interrupted by the circumstances of the day. These stories will transport readers to a simpler time before technology, when summers seemed to last forever and riding a bicycle around your neighborhood was all one needed to be happy.