Growing up in the early years of the twentieth century, Lilly May sorely missed the nurturing of a loving mother: she was only four when her mom died. From a lonely childhood spent in PennsylvaniaÕs Susquehanna River Valley, she was transplanted in early womanhood to the shore of Lake Ontario. Head-strong and often contrary, Lil experienced a tumultuous marriage; she and Earl raised eight children to adulthood. Both her inborn sense of humor and cultivated sense of entitlement served her well through the years. From the high jinks of a dining room water fight waged with a garden hose, to the heartache of unbearable loss, her life was a mix of light and shade, the hilarious intermingled with deep sorrow. Thursday's Child tells the true story of the author's paternal grandmother.