A 15-year-old girl stands outside the door to her father’s room. He has not appeared or spoken for days. She has been warned to be quiet, to keep sharp objects out of sight. Her heart pounding, she knocks. There is no response, but she feels she must talk to him. She enters the room.

May Rosanna Hsi did not have to wait 15 years for her first challenge in life. Born prematurely, she weighed only three pounds on her first day of life. Through the haze of trying to follow school work, the caring faces of a teacher and a nanny emerge to embrace her with unconditional love that will give her a foundation for dealing with many roadblocks in the future–roadblocks that she sometimes finds within herself. The author’s open, honest sharing of joys and setbacks along a path of searching, sorting out values, adjusting to marriage will inspire, delight, sometimes provoke smiles. But with all her engagement with the world, writes her long-term friend in the Foreword, her priority has always been human relationships. Nothing drives or holds her more than deep connection with other human beings. That tenacious commitment emerges again and again in these 15 glimpses into her life. They are 15 gifts to all of us who have the privilege of knowing her or will come to know her in these pages.