Acknowledgments

My heartfelt gratitude to my children, Michael Dean Edwards and Catherine Edwards Sadler Grill, who relived and shared with me their memories of the times of our lives chronicled in this book. My pride in them as man and woman has grown steadily through the years. I have always believed I am the luckiest mother I have known. In recounting my life during their childhood and youth, I now know that to be true.

There have been others who shared those times with me, some who were fond friends, others who were the progeny of those who are now sadly gone—I give to them my deepest gratitude. Their personal reflections and the filling in of so many details have contributed greatly to a fuller and more accurate portrait of our “expat” years.

I have been extremely fortunate in having Stephen Ryan as an editor for he has, from the beginning, shown his belief in this very personal book at a time that has not been easy in the publishing world. I also want to extend my appreciation to others who have assisted so well in the final making of Leaving Home: production editor Jessica McCleary; the fine copyeditor, April Lehoullier; the proofreader, Annette Van Deusen; and my good friend George Djordjevic, who navigated me through the high-tech seas of the twenty-first century.

Last, but certainly not least, my loving appreciation goes to my husband, Stephen Citron, who came into my life only after I had returned “home,” and who has never lessened his support of me or my writing.