Writing this book was quite literally a labour of love, and it simply would not have been possible without the incredible support network I have around me. I would like to thank with a full heart my husband Dean, for putting up with my absolute inept ability to focus beyond the book and the baby, for feeding me, watering me and keeping me calm, and above all for being co-creator of our beautiful children.
Thank you to my mum for looking after Raven at the drop of a hat and taking holidays from work to help with my workload. And to the rest of my amazing family and friends for their endless encouragement, providing snacks and mental refuge, their kind words of support and their continuing remembrance of Winter.
Thank you to all the sangha at Tara Kadampa Meditation Centre for opening my eyes to new ways of thinking and helping me to turn my immense loss into something beautiful, proactive and meaningful.
Thank you to anyone and everyone that I have met along this journey – all the families, every single mother with or without her baby. By offering your insights and sharing your gorgeous babies with me you have given me extra energy to write this book.
Thank you to Clemmie Telford for passing on my details to Sam Jackson, my publisher, and therefore helping this book to come into fruition. Thank you to Farrah Moore and Michelle Cottle for reading my manuscript and offering guidance from other loss perspectives. Thank you Nora Leinad for providing the beautiful illustrations to accompany my writing.
And thank you to the team at Vermilion for inviting this opportunity into my life, particularly Sam for her remarkable patience and guidance. For so long I had wanted to write a book about baby loss and you guys made a dream a reality.
Thank you Winter for being an absolute inspiration in my life now and forever, and thank you Raven for not only being a total dream but for arriving at exactly the right time to enable me to write this book!