Reign the Earth (The Elementae #1)(120)
To Nacie and Renee, my sisters from other misters (hi, Mr. C and Mr. D!), thank you for sitting with me and checking up on me and agreeing to eat no more ice cream with me when I gave up all sugar for eight months—it is so not easy to change up a friendship routine (especially involving sugar), but you never missed a beat. Seriously, that’s love.
To Leah, Iggy, Ashley, Alex, Jenna, Emily, Nora, Robin, Andrea, and Beth, illness makes me a bad friend, and none of you cared. Thank you—that kindness and generosity is such a gift.
Holly, thank you for being my sounding board. Caitlin, Tyme, Leigh, Jo, Emily, thank you for the special brand of AIE love.
To Steve, Aysha, and Juliet, I was such a crappy employee for several months, and instead you made me feel like a fighter. Thank you for teaching me the meaning of a team—and thank you for reminding me that art is in fact the language of hope.
To the Girl Scouts, especially Liz, Lori, Emma, Jen, Christine, Sheila, Joan, Dianne, Danielle, Amy, all of Waltham—but really everyone because, seriously, what a team—thank you for taking me in and making me one of your own.
To Dr. Mark Dacey, Jen, Julie, and all of the incredible team at Eye Health Services, thank you for giving me my eyes back. Thank you for your expert care, your attentive concern, and your kindness. You are the closest I’ve ever come to miracle workers.
To Dr. Choong, thank you for answering my crazy e-mails and phone calls and helping me figure out diabetes when I had forgotten how to be diabetic. Your daily, excellent care is above and beyond, and I will be forever grateful.
To Mom and Dad—I am so sorry I scared the crap out of you. I know it’s not easy to see your child struggle like that, but you each showed me in different ways that it’s really okay for a thirty-year-old to need her mom and dad. Thank you, Mom, for literally caring for me for weeks, but also for reminding me how to do this whole diabetes thing and that I am perfectly capable of controlling this disease. Dad, thank you for making sure I never worried about anything other than being healthy—that was and is an incredible gift.
To Mikey, you know that whole poem “Footprints” about God and stuff ? Mine to you would be similar, except it would be chairs. So thank you for sitting beside me in doctors’ offices (even when I didn’t tell you about the appointment), in cars when I couldn’t drive myself, in movie theaters through good times and bad, on the couch even when there’s not much to say, and in the very worst times, when I couldn’t go anywhere without looking up, thank you for carrying a special chair for me to sit in.
And finally, to Kev and Alisa, thank you for the audiobooks and the regular books, for introducing me to the Royals and UnReal, and for always showing up and always being there despite being totally blissful newlyweds. Alisa, you totally went above and beyond the call of brand-new sisterhood (sorry about the hospital-gown incident) and I am so grateful and happy that you’re family now. Kev, thank you for ordering stuff from Amazon when you feel worried about me, for rubbing my back when I’m fighting off tears, and for being there whenever I need you. I love you both.
Though, really, I love you all.
You are my fight song.