— Rita
To my mother and my biggest cheerleader, Josephine Missakian, who passed just before the printing of this book. You always sacrificed for your six children and put yourself second, now I want to put you first. Thank you, Mom, for all your love, protection & guidance, and for teaching me by your example what a loving mom is all about, which I can now be for my own children. I love you Mom, more than you’ll ever know.
—Rita
To my family…
To my husband Shamus: Thank you for your constant love and support through all of my crazy ideas and endeavors…this by far being the craziest!
And to my children, Tyler, Sarah, Stephanie, Neil, Grant, Noel, Rowan, and Molly: Throughout your lives, you have had to make many sacrifices. You have had to share everything from your home to your toys, not to mention your mom, with the many children who came into our home for daycare and became part of the family. Without your generosity and willingness to adapt, this project would never have come to be, and for that I am eternally grateful to each one of you.
I love you all!
—Becky