Little and often : a memoir / Trent Preszler.

Prologue -- The phone call -- First crush -- The long way home -- Thanksgiving -- The last cowboy -- Feast or famine -- Riding lessons -- Whiteout -- Thank you for your service -- House of secrets -- Duck hunting -- The unboxing -- Fewer and better -- Educated -- Preszler Workshop -- The strongback -- True to form -- Branding day -- Breaking point -- Valley of the giants -- Unexpected guests -- On, mom -- Lost and found -- Little and often makes much -- Summer by the sea -- The whiskey plank -- A party -- Rash decisions -- The hearts of men -- Ashes to ashes -- Floating.

When his cancer-stricken father died, after years of estrangement, Preszler's only inheritance was a beat-up wooden toolbox that had belonged to his father, who was a cattle rancher, rodeo champion, and Vietnam War Bronze Star Medal recipient. Preszler did not work with his hands, but in his grief came an epiphany: he would make something with his inheritance. He decided to build a wooden canoe that he aimed to paddle on the first anniversary of his father's death. As he confronted unexpected revelations about his father's secret history-- and his own struggle for self-respect-- the canoe became his sole consolation and the means to change his life. -- adapted from jacket.