Persis Gerdes was the beloved wife of Eckhard Gerdes and devoted mother of Sterling, Ludwig, and Penelope Gerdes. She passed away from metastatic breast cancer in 2002, but left behind this novel, a screenplay, a couple of short stories, and a passel of people who loved her. Inspired in part by her well known grandfather, Seth Phelps, a long-time teacher at the University of Chicago Laboratory School, she earned a Master of Arts in Teaching and used her talents to help develop the love of music in underprivileged elementary school children. Her optimism and vision for a better future for the world were unwavering, and they live on through her work.