MY DEEP APPRECIATION GOES TO FRED HILLS, BARBARA Gess, and Bob Bender, all wonderful editors at Simon & Schuster, whose direction, encouragement, and expertise helped me so much with this book.
I also sincerely thank Deborah Bergman, my outside editor, who skillfully adjusted and improved the structure of my free-flowing first draft.
My heartfelt thanks go to Lois de la Haba, my literary agent, who has also become my friend.
And, finally, my deepest gratitude goes to all my patients, who are constantly teaching me about life and love.