Shades of Blue, Page 2

  To Austin, my miracle boy …

  What an adventure you’re just beginning, Austin. You and your brothers starting at a new Christian school, a place where you’ll make amazing memories and forever friends. I’m so glad you’ll be a part of this wonderful community, and I expect that this year is the beginning of a time when God uses you as a brilliant light for Him. You will be a leader at this school, as you have already been a leader for your friends at your elementary school. But even as I am thrilled with all that lies ahead, I still can hardly believe you are at the beginning of middle school. For the last year I’ve been calculating lasts. Your last back-to-school ice cream social — something that’s only done at the grade school. Your last open house, and your last chance to participate in the science fair. Your last time to have recess built into your daily routine. How can it be that my youngest child is no longer in grade school? As difficult as it is to see you grow, it is even more exciting to see all you are becoming. I think of the time at the beginning of last baseball season when the umpire pulled aside our coaches and said, “I love your catcher. I’ve never seen a boy in this league with as much character and good manners as that young man. Please … tell the rest of your team to take a lesson from him.” Wow, Austin. As happy as your dad and I are when you make an out at home plate or when you hit a home run, those things pale in comparison to the way you’re being a light for Christ. You grow to be a little more like your daddy every day. Something that must make your Papa smile up in heaven. Keep on, my youngest son. Keep Jesus first and know that I love you always and always.

  And to God Almighty, the Author of Life, who has — for now — blessed me with these.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  NO BOOK COMES TOGETHER WITHOUT A great and talented team of people making it happen. For that reason, a special thanks to my friends at Zondervan who combined efforts to make Shades of Blue all it could be. A special thanks to my dedicated editor, Sue Brower, and to my brilliant publicist Karen Campbell, and to Karwyn Bursma, whose creative marketing is unrivaled in the publishing business.

  Also, thanks to my amazing agent, Rick Christian, president of Alive Communications. Rick, you’ve always believed only the best for me. When we talk about the highest possible goals, you see them as doable, reachable. You are a brilliant manager of my career, and I thank God for you. But even with all you do for my ministry of writing, I am doubly grateful for your encouragement and prayers. Every time I finish a book, you send me a letter that deserves to be framed, and when something big happens, yours is the first call I receive. Thank you for that. But even more, the fact that you and Debbie are praying for me and my family keeps me confident every morning that God will continue to breathe life into the stories in my heart. Thank you for being so much more than a brilliant agent.

  A special thank-you to my husband, Don, who puts up with me on deadline and doesn’t mind driving through Taco Bell after a basketball game if I’ve been editing all day. This wild ride wouldn’t be possible without you. Your love keeps me writing; your prayers keep me believing that God has a plan in this ministry of fiction. And thanks for the hours you put in working with the guestbook entries on my website. It’s a full-time job, and I am grateful for your concern for my reader friends. I look forward to that time every day when you read through them, sharing them with me and releasing them to the public, lifting up the prayer requests. Thank you, honey, and thanks to all my kids, who pull together, bringing me iced green tea, and understand my sometimes-crazy schedule. I love that you know you’re still first, before any deadline.

  Thank you also to my mom, Anne Kingsbury, and to my sisters, Tricia, Sue, and Lynne. Mom, you are amazing as my assistant — working day and night sorting through the mail from my readers. I appreciate you more than you’ll ever know.

  Tricia, you are the best executive assistant I could ever hope to have. I treasure your loyalty and honesty, the way you include me in every decision and the daily exciting website changes. My site has been a different place since you stepped in, and the hits have grown a hundredfold. Along the way, the readers have so much more to help them in their faith, so much more than a story with this Life-Changing Fiction TM. Please know that I pray for God’s blessings on you always, for your dedication to helping me in this season of writing, and for your wonderful son, Andrew. And aren’t we having such a good time too? God works all things to the good!

  Sue, I believe you should’ve been a counselor! From your home far from mine, you get batches of reader letters every day, and you diligently answer them using God’s wisdom and His Word. When readers get a response from “Karen’s sister Susan,” I hope they know how carefully you’ve prayed for them and for the responses you give. Thank you for truly loving what you do, Sue. You’re gifted with people, and I’m blessed to have you aboard.

  A special thanks also to Will Montgomery, my manager. I was terrified to venture into the business of selling my books at events for a couple of reasons. First, I never wanted to profit from book sales at speaking events; and second, because I would never have the time to handle such details. Monty, you came in and made it all come together. With a mission statement that reads, “To love and serve the readers,” you have helped me supply books and free gifts to tens of thousands of readers at events across the country. You understand my desire to give away our proceeds for ministry purposes. More than that, you’ve become my friend, a very valuable part of the ministry of Life-Changing Fiction TM. You are loyal and kind and fiercely protective of me, my family, and the work God has me doing. Thank you for everything you’re doing and will continue to do.

  Thanks too to Olga Kalachik, my office assistant, who helps organize my supplies and storage area and who prepares our home for the marketing events and research gatherings that take place here on a regular basis. I appreciate all you’re doing to make sure I have time to write. You’re wonderful, Olga, and I pray God continues to bless you and your precious family.

  I also want to thank my friends with Extraordinary Women — Roy Morgan, Tim and Julie Clinton, Beth Cleveland, Charles Billingsley, and so many others. How wonderful to be a part of what God is doing through all of you. Thank you for making me part of your family.

  Thanks also to my forever friends and family, the ones who have been there and continue to be there. Your love has been a tangible source of comfort, pulling us through the tough times and making us know how very blessed we are to have you in our lives.

  And the greatest thanks to God. The gift is Yours. I pray I might use it for years to come in a way that will bring You honor and glory.

  FOREVER IN FICTION

  * * *

  Whenever I receive the completed paperwork for a Forever in Fiction winner, I read through the details of the life being honored in fiction — whether the person is alive or has passed — and I am touched by the real-life stories that come my way.

  In Shades of Blue you will see three characters named through my donation of Forever in Fiction to various auctions. The first is Francesca (Frankie) Gianakopoulos, a six-year-old girl from Plainfield, Illinois. Frankie was chosen to be Forever in Fiction by her mother, Melissa Gianakopoulos, who won the item at the Trinity Christian School auction. Frankie is a petite girl with dark hair, dark eyes, and a short, sassy haircut. According to the people who know her, one word describes Frankie — angelic. People say they can see an angelic aura about her that is demonstrated in the way she looks at others, the way she speaks, and even the way she moves. She touches the hearts of everyone she meets.

  At age three, Frankie was diagnosed with Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura — a blood disease that causes her to be severely bruised most of the time. Her blood count is constantly being checked. Although she is forced to deal with an illness she doesn’t understand, she has a very strong faith and loves life with a passion. She is especially fond of Lincoln Logs, Legos, and Hot Wheels cars, and she is best friends with all the boys in her class. She is a tomboy who loves seeing her grandparents
in Las Vegas, and she is thrilled with visits to Disneyland. She needs to be careful she doesn’t get hurt, but that doesn’t stop her from playing with her older siblings — Lexa and Christopher. Frankie also loves reading and math. Despite her weekly visits to an oncology clinic, those who love her have committed Frankie to God, and they believe she is in His hands.

  In Shades of Blue, Frankie appears as one of the kids in Emma Landon’s classroom. Because of her illness, Frankie helps Emma understand the value of life — no matter what. Frankie and Emma are very close, and Frankie’s faith is one of the factors that ends up helping Emma understand that she must find redemption if she’s to move on in life.

  Melissa, I pray that your family will be blessed by the placement of Frankie in the pages of Shades of Blue, and that when you read this book you will always see some of your precious little girl here, where she will be Forever in Fiction.

  Also honored in Shades of Blue is seventeen-year-old Kristin Palazzo. Kristin was born in October of 1989 and quickly became a loving little Daddy’s girl. Growing up, she loved her black lab, Mollie, her Grammy, and her cousins. She enjoyed taking trips to the American Girl doll store and staying at the family’s cabin in the mountains of West Virginia. She loved photography, cooking, reading, swimming, and creating artwork. She enjoyed taking close-up photos of flowers and God’s beauty in nature. She had long, straight, dark brown hair and brown eyes. She was tall and slender with a wonderful laugh and a lovely smile. Kristin was quiet, kind, adaptable, unpresuming, caring, creative, easygoing, perceptive, lighthearted, and intelligent. She was humble and never wanted to be the center of attention, and she loved the Lord with everything she had. She was close to her younger sister, Stephanie, sixteen.

  When Kristin was ten years old, she got a virus, a simple case of pneumonia. Her condition worsened that night and she was air-transported to the pediatric intensive care unit at Hershey Medical Center. There, she was diagnosed with myocarditis, and she spent seven weeks on life support fighting for survival. Several times she went into cardiac arrest. Though doctors at first gave her a grim prognosis, her family and community rallied in prayer around her, and Kristin finally recovered enough to go home. But she did so with a very damaged heart.

  Eventually Kristin was able to return to school, but with every year her heart grew larger and weaker. When she was in sixth grade, she accepted Jesus as her Savior and went on to be the sort of friend who prayed constantly for others — despite her medical issues. At one of her last doctor appointments, the staff told her that she had perhaps one of the largest hearts in the country, a truth that held more than one meaning for her family. Even so, her heart was functioning well enough that she wasn’t put on a heart transplant list. She was, though, limited in her daily activities. Just after her seventeenth birthday, Kristin was scheduled to have a pacemaker and a defibrillator implanted into her chest. In anticipation of the surgery, her friends at school threw her a pre-pacemaker party. Even though she didn’t like the attention, she loved the support and concern from her friends and classmates that evening.

  Throughout the experience, Kristin learned not to get too upset about the small things in life. She was very brave and rarely complained as she tried to live as normally as possible. In fact, many people had no idea what she was going through medically.

  The day after Kristin’s seventeenth birthday, she was taking a walk across the street when she went into cardiac arrest. By the time the ambulance got there, her dad had been performing CPR for thirty minutes. They got her heart started again and took her to Hershey Medical Center for six more weeks. They tried their best, but on November 26, 2006, she went home to be with Jesus. She was a junior at Lancaster Mennonite School, where her parents dedicated the Kristin L. Palazzo Gallery at the school. The gallery presently displays Kristin’s art, but also the work of other students. The people who loved her and knew her best like to say that Kristin will be a much bigger part of their future than their past.

  At Kristin’s life celebration service with Mount Joy Mennonite Church in Mount Joy, Pennsylvania, more than six hundred people attended. Her favorite Bible verse, Psalm 46:1 – 2, was recited for all to hear. People left the Service that day forever touched by Kristin’s life.

  Kristin’s life was honored Forever in Fiction by her parents — Rick and Lynne Palazzo, who won the item at the Lancaster Mennonite School Auction. I chose to make Kristin a student volunteer for Emma Landon’s grade school children, a role that gives Kristin’s character the chance to make an impact on Emma. Kristin’s love for friends and God, her faith and courage, make her another great example for the struggling Emma. I pray that Kristin’s life will touch many of you reading this book as well, and that her parents, family, and friends are honored by her placement in the pages of Shades of Blue, where her memory will live on Forever in Fiction.

  Finally, in this book, Cassandra Rae Armijo will be honored as well. Cassandra’s life was very brief, but it was also brilliant. She was stillborn at just less than six months’ gestation. She had beautiful eyelashes, a cute nose, and she was a very active baby until the time of her death. Cassandra would’ve been the firstborn for her mother, the first niece and the first grandchild for her mother’s side of the family. She since has two brothers who will not meet her until heaven — Nathaniel and Micah.

  Cassandra was placed Forever in Fiction by her aunt, Joanna Williams, the sister of Cassandra’s mother — Elisabeth Armijo. I chose to have Cassandra be the baby of one of Emma’s teaching colleagues. In doing so, Emma has the chance to see the reality of life that grows within a woman during a pregnancy. This helps to create an awareness for Emma about life and its sanctity. Joanna, I pray that you and your sister and your family are honored by the placement of Cassandra in Shades of Blue, and that you will always be touched when you see her in the pages of this book, where her memory will continue to touch hearts and change lives as she lives on Forever in Fiction.

  For those of you who are not familiar with Forever in Fiction, it is my way of involving you, the readers, in my stories while raising money for charities. To date, Forever in Fiction has raised more than $100,000 at charity auctions across the country. Obviously, I am only able to donate a limited number of these each year. For that reason, I have set a fairly high minimum bid on this package so that the maximum funds are raised for charities.

  If you are interested in having a Forever in Fiction package donated to your auction, contact my assistant, Tricia Kingsbury, at [email protected]. Please write Forever in Fiction in the subject line. Also, look for occasional offerings of Forever in Fiction on eBay — an attempt to give all my readers the chance to purchase this item while benefiting a charity of my choice.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Acknowledgments

  Forever in fiction

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  About the Publisher

  Share Your Thoughts

  One

  CREATING THE RIGHT SPIN USUALLY CAME easily for Brad Cutler, but this time he was st
ruggling. Kotton Kids Clothing was the account of the moment, a lucrative campaign with a high-end product that should’ve been easy to work with.

  He stared out the window and tried to focus. The stunning view from his downtown New York City office on the twenty-first floor of the Westmont Building was hardly conducive to figuring out family moments as they related to soft cotton clothing. Even so, the chaos of Manhattan wasn’t the problem. Brad could work anywhere, and on this day, creating a campaign should’ve been even easier. His office had been transformed, surrounded by soft pastel fabrics, instrumental lullabies, and poster-size images of children — all intended to take him from the frantic pace of the city into another world.