Acknowledgments

Tis is a true story, told as aithully as I can remember. Te nar-rative refects both the material that I recorded in journals overthe years, as well as shared memories. In all but one case thenames are real. Tis book is dedicated to the people in my lie who have taught me how to love: my beautiul wie, Sue, and ourtwo exquisite daughters, Grace and Kate. Tey can claim ourshared triumphs; I alone claim my ailings.But o course in any love story there are subplots that cannever be told ully, and so I thank my parents, my siblings, andmy extended amily o in-laws. I am also grateul or the supporto the editors and sta o Loyola Press, with whom I have workedon this, our second book together. Tank you, Joe Durepos, or your enthusiasm and energy in helping me think through why our story might be good to share. Tank you also to Vinita Wright, not only or your support and encouragement, but alsoor your clarity and precision in helping me tell this true story truthully.

An Interactive Feature

Tis is one couple’s love story, and it bears the uniqueness o their lie together. But their journey has been marked by thesame stages and challenges aced by most people who all in loveand then try to ollow where that love leads. We think that some o the key moments in the lie o imand Sue may well have parallels in the lives o many readers. Forthis reason, we have created

Questions for Couples in Love

at the end o the book. Not only have we generated engagingquestions rom the Muldoons’ story, but we have alerted you when a particular aspect o the story has a correlating questionin the discussion section.Troughout the book, when “See Question #” appears in themargin, this means that a question in the discussion section isrelated to this part o the story. You might choose to turn to thatquestion right then; sometimes it helps to begin with the topic o someone else’s situation beore moving into an honest explorationo your own.Or, you can go to your own discussion at a later time. Pleaseuse this eature in the way that’s best or you. We encouragepeople to approach the questions as individuals and also ascouples. May your time with these pages oer ood or thought,hope or your lie together, and a richer engagement with God,the author o our deepest desires.

Questionslocatedon pages135–145

Where We Never Thought We’d Be

(December, 2000)

My mind is beginning to sele down, now a moderate hum echo-ing the sound o the engines outside our window. Te eupho-ria o anticipating our adoption that accompanied us onto theplane hours ago has brought us to sheer exhaustion, the resulto accumulated stress and hope, pain and longing. I am noddingo, then awakening, trying to nd a position in the cramped seatthat will allow or at least a semblance o sleep.Sue has never looked more beautiul. Her ace is peaceul,resting on a pillow against the window. I imagine that what she’sdreaming is hopeul. Te thought o her dreams is a consolation,knowing as I do how oen over the past ve years her dreamshave been raught with heartache. She was made to be a mother, yet denied the obvious route to her heart’s desire. I want to touchher ace, as i this physical contact might grant me passage into herdream world. Many times I have prayed or the ability to take away her pain, to enter her dreams like the angels o the Bible and assureher that God has chosen her or a dierent kind o happiness, a di-cult yet deep and lasting happiness. More than once over our ten years together we have learned the hard wisdom o perseverance.