GAY SEVERSIKE LINDQUIST, retired nursing professor, grew up on an Iowa farm and held nursing positions at hospitals in Florida and Iowa before moving to Wisconsin. There she taught maternal-child health and international health care courses at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and was awarded the Susan Van Ort Award for Creativity and Scholarly Activity. She lives in Naples, Florida and is also the author of VALLEY OF THE SHADOW: a JOURNEY THROUGH CANCER AND BEYOND, ISLAND DREAM, and THROUGH THE AGES: MY FAMILY HISTORY. This is her first work of fiction.