A Story of Six Boys in a Simpler Time Evan was still a teenager in college when his world crashed. With no family to turn to, his five friends stood faithful and solid. They had been "best friends" since their sandbox days in the early 1900s in the small, safe town of Hillsdale. Evan bought a small abandoned farm, and starting with his mother's strawberry plants, he and his wife Pearl became successful farmers and pillars within the community. These little boys, teenagers, adults, and finally as mature successful men, cherished and protected their friendship, never letting personal problems, deaths, women, time, or space interfere. Indeed, when trouble lifted its unwelcome head, they drew together like elastic on an armband.