When Amy and Dave learned that their six-month-old daughter, Emily, was diagnosed with a slow-growing brain tumor, they were devastated. Throughout her childhood, they managed their daughter's complex cancer, all the while striving just to be an ordinary, normal family. In doing so, Amy kept her emotions close and plastered on smiles, some genuine, as she worked in between cancer clinic appointments, had another baby, and attended cul-de-sac potluck dinners. The smiles were harder to put on when Emily suffered from a massive stroke just before her 8th birthday. Amy suddenly found herself a parent to an active toddler and an almost eight-year-old who could no longer talk, walk, or feed herself. Emily's spirit remained shockingly unscathed. In the end, it was she who reminded the family to laugh, smile, and finally accept that they were anything but ordinary. This memoir of motherhood at its hardest reveals what went on behind closed doors and beneath the smiles, as Amy writes in raw, honest detail about her relationship with her spouse, juggling work demands, raising her typically developing son, and finding lasting friendships throughout each of Emily's setbacks.

When love is involved you can live in two separate places and still find the one you were destined to be with. Chance with a dose of opportunity will bring two people together in due time. The obstacles you face are of no consequence and favor will always come back to you in one way or another.

The thought behind the book THE ABSENCE OF GRAY is to dissuade the concepts of gray or of uncertainty. The poems persuade you to think a different way or expound on ideas that you already believe to be true. This poetry represents feelings of happiness, sadness, peace, rage, unrest, and victory. I hope the journey through this book is one of benefit and consciousness.