Acknowledgments

To the memory of the mother, Elizabeth Marie and for my father, Edward James

My mom, Betty, was and remains the biggest influence, if that’s the word, in my life. Long before she put me to work, she taught me how to clean our home. Everything had to shine. That standard of perfect cleanliness was its own gift, given the work I’d choose. She was a focused, intense woman, the driving force of the family, and she taught through her own actions. I honestly don’t know who I’d be if I’d been raised by, and had grown up watching, someone other than her.