"We make choices each day," says Alys Capozzi, "that carve us into the individuals we become." For some, those choices are more onerous than they are for others. The author of this book was confronted with the need to make harsh decisions most young women her age didn't have to face. Life kept surprising her, and her choices grew tougher-but she has found great strength in them and grown into the person she is today. "I surprise even myself," she says, "by how I have learned to adapt to situations that will not adapt to me." This book chronicles the journey she has taken to reach that surprise. She finds it difficult to believe she is the only person with such issues, and she hopes that, by reading her a count, others who are struggling with their choices will find comfort in knowing that they are not alone. Capozzi had a fairly normal childhood. With parents who loved her, an older sister to show her how to grow up, and the love of an extended family to teach her how important family is, she was prepared for life-or so she thought. She became an R.N. at the age of nineteen. She has been married twice and given birth to her son during her second marriage. She's a forty-six-year-old faced with the challenges of living with chronic illnesses she must confront on a daily basis. She does so with all the strength she can muster, doing her best to raise "an awesome son."