The Loose Ends List(87)
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
(LOOSE ENDS)
I had a snow globe moment in a room overlooking the sea when I read the first pages of this book to my husband, Michael Firestone. Thank you, Michael, for being eternally wonderful. You are my muse.
I had a second snow globe moment in a restaurant overlooking Central Park when I had lunch with two extraordinary women: my agent, Sara Crowe, and my editor, Lisa Yoskowitz. Thank you, Sara, for helping me find the heart of this story. Thank you, Lisa, for making that heart beat with your remarkable precision, dedication, humor, and wisdom.
Many more thank-yous go out to Jon Appleton, Kristin Dulaney, Maggie Edkins, Sasha Illingworth, Annie McDonnell, Kheryn Callender, and the rest of the Little, Brown and Hodder teams for transforming the beating story heart into an actual book.
The following people have kept me happy, grounded, and sane, and have inspired the stories inside me. I am deeply grateful for you all.
1. My parents, Faye and Fred Eichholzer and Ray and Kay Lenarcic, and my in-laws, Paulette and Jerry Firestone. Mom, you’ve encouraged me to write since I scared myself with my own Halloween story. You even got a seahorse tattoo to celebrate this book. Dad, you’ve taught me, through your own tireless work, that writing can be a powerful vehicle for change. Kay and Fred, everyone should have a second set of parents as stellar and loving as you. And to Paulette and Jerry Firestone, thank you for being anything but “chopped liver.”
2. My sister. Jennifer Snyder, you are the strongest, bravest person I know, and my life is exponentially richer thanks to you and Tim and Devin and Lindsay and Andrew.
3. Four Unrelated Women. Abigail Esty, Nancy Krick, Laura Radmore, and Ellen Posner—you may not know this, but long ago, the four of you gave me the encouragement I needed to write bigger, better books. Thank you all.
4. My friends. You guys are my E’s (and my Rachels), my secret keepers, and my cheerleaders, and without you I would be a one-woman conga line.
5. My writing partners. Thank you Jennifer O’Dea, Juliana Mills, Cindy Rodriguez, Christy Yaros, Eleni DeGraw, and Denise Alfeld for totally “getting it.”
6. My girls. Emily and Lauren Firestone, I can’t wait for more amazing family adventures. I love you both so much.
7. My grandmothers. I lost my beloved grandmother, Vivian Lenarcic, while editing this book. She was my grandma and my dear friend and I miss her every day. Both my grandmothers were strong, resilient women who plowed through adversity and grief and still found grace and meaning in simple things. They taught me to take the pain and grow beauty. There’s nothing more healing or more powerful than that.