A Place of Peace (36 page)

wunderbaar:
wonderful

ya:
yes

zwillingbopplin:
twins

T
o my best friend and mother, Lola Goebelbecker, thank you for your love, support, and encouragement. Our family would be lost without you. Thank you for enduring my constant chatter about my books. You’re the best plotting partner ever!

To my husband, Joe, there aren’t words to tell you how much I love and cherish you. You’re my best friend and my rock. I’m looking forward to many, many more years with you by my side. I pray daily that we’ll find a matching kidney for you so you can live the life you crave and deserve.

Zac and Matt, you are the most amazing boys on the planet. I love you with all my heart. Thank you for bringing sunshine into my life. And yes, Zac, I’ve finally named characters after you and your brother. I hope you like “Zach” and “Matthew” as much as I do.

To my mother-in-law, Sharon Clipston, thank you for sharing my books with friends and family. To my wonderful aunt and godmother, Trudy Janitz, thank you for spreading my books to your friends and customers. Love you both!

I’m more grateful than words can express to my patient friends who critique for me —Sue McKlveen, Margaret Halpin, and Lauran Rodriguez. Thank you for always volunteering to read my books and offer your opinions.

Special thanks to Jerome Menendez, nurse practitioner at the Transplant Center in Levine Children’s Hospital. Your guidance was invaluable. I can’t express how much I appreciate your help researching liver transplants and Crigler-Najjar Syndrome (CNS). In my opinion, you
are
a superhero!

I sincerely appreciate Dr. George Mazariegos, director of pediatric transplantation at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, who took time out of his busy schedule to help with my CNS and liver transplant research. Also, thank you to Caroline Morton, with the Clinic for Special Children in Strasburg, Pennsylvania, who also patiently answered my questions. Without Dr. Mazariegos’ and Ms. Morton’s help, this story wouldn’t be complete.

I’m very grateful to my special Amish friends who patiently answer my endless stream of questions. Your friendship means the world to me. Thank you for welcoming me into your homes.

Thank you also to Katie Martin, whose personal stories of her journey with two CNS children helped shape this story. Your book,
God’s Golden Children,
is full of information about CNS and also is an inspiration and a blessing for family members caring for loved ones with medical issues.

Thank you also to Ruth Meily and Betsy Cook for their continued help with Lancaster County research.

Thank you to my wonderful church family at Morning Star Lutheran in Matthews, North Carolina, for your encouragement, prayers, love, and friendship. You all mean so much to my family and me.

To Mary Sue Seymour—you are the most amazing agent in the world! Thank you for believing in my writing.

I’m more grateful than words can express to the Zondervan team. Thank you to my amazing editors—Sue Brower and Becky Philpott. I’m so blessed to be a part of the Zondervan family. Special thanks to Lori Vanden Bosch for editing this book and giving the story more depth, and to Emma Sleeth for your help and insights.

To my readers—thank you for choosing my books. I also appreciate the wonderful emails and your prayers for my husband. Please, if you are physically able, become an organ donor and also donate blood. By giving the gift of life, you can help someone like my husband.

Thank you most of all to God for giving me the inspiration and the words to glorify You. I’m so grateful and humbled You’ve chosen this path for me.

Special thanks to Cathy and Dennis Zimmermann for their hospitality and research assistance in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

Cathy & Dennis Zimmermann, Innkeepers

The Creekside Inn

44 Leacock Road

PO Box 435

Paradise, PA 17562

Toll Free: (866) 604 – 2574

Local Phone: (717) 687 – 0333

The author and publisher gratefully acknowledge the following resources that were used to research information for this book:

Richard A. Stevick,
Growing Up Amish
(Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007).

Donald B. Kraybill,
The Riddle of the Amish Culture
(Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1989, 2001).

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