This is a story of hope and survival. Self-reliance and traditional family values help our family to stick together and outlive the flu pandemic crisis. In the process of overcoming this struggle, our family becomes stronger, as does American society. Throughout this life changing experience, there are elements of self reliance, fear, death of a loved one, courage, family conflict, self preservation, life's lessons, going back to the simple basics, and so much more. Although this book was written as fiction over two years ago, much of it has already come true. My hope is to create more public awareness and help people to prepare themselves and their families for the imminent calamity that one day each of us will likely have to face. On that dreadful day when the deadly contagious pandemic affects your our own family, we all will know in our hearts that we did not do enough to prepare for it, and if it just so happens that we do live through it, we will live out the rest of our lives burdened with the knowledge and the guilt of that unforgiving fact. The Difference Between Life and Death: Outliving the Flu Pandemic of 2009" was awarded second place in the Young Adult Fiction category of the 2009 Premier Book Awards, and was a Finalist in the Fictional Short Story category for the Indie Book Awards 2009.