To Audrey, Dell, and Jeri,
who keep my writing on course;
my husband, John, who says, with good cause,
that writers starve because they forget to stop and cook;
my son, Adrian, and my daughters,
Anne, Abigail, Ardra, and Alyssa,
whose enthusiastic encouragement keeps me going.
“Afflicted city, lashed by storms and not comforted,
I will rebuild you with stones of turquoise,
your foundations with lapis lazuli.
I will make your battlements of rubies,
your gates of sparkling jewels,
and all your walls of precious stones.”
ISAIAH 54:12