Katherine Tarrell

My name is Kate Tarrell. All of the things Mae’s friends have gone through were personal experiences of mine. Hearing loss runs in my family, and my sister and I are both redheads. In elementary school, I was a giant compared to everyone else. Most of the time, I felt out of place because no one was nearly as tall as me. I love sports but always worried about sweating because I sure did! In having these experiences, I often worried and felt anxious, but in the end, I found out that all of the lessons I learned made me who I am today and that the most important thing I did was talk through my feelings, be kind, and surround myself with incREDible people.

My family means everything to me. They are incREDible, and I’m so thankful to have them in my life. This book is dedicated to my grandma Jean, the strongest, most beautiful woman I know. She’s a great role model and has shown me what grit and perseverance look like. My inspiration for this book came from her. She wrote a book of her own and used literature to cope during a very difficult time.

I also want to thank my amazing parents, Josh and Jen Tarrell. I can’t even begin to describe how incREDible they are. I love them with all my heart. They’ve been there for me through thick and thin and have always believed in me. When faced with challenges, they modeled responsibility and integrity. With their help, I have my incREDible two sisters, who have been my greatest of friends. We stick together through everything, and I am incREDibly grateful to have them in my life.