You are drawn into the struggle from author Don Fletcher's side, as he tries to understand and cope with what is happening to Martha. At the same time, in alternate chapters before the onset of the disease, you live with Martha an Don through adventures and challenges in the North Chilean desert while they start their family of six children; and with Martha's remarkable career as a church musician, teacher, and choral director in Mexico, Texas, Alabama, and finally back home in New Jersey. The effect of the parallel stories, "before and after," is powerful and the ending poignantly serene.