Many wonderful people have opened up their hearts and their homes to Will and our family.  While it is unimaginable that we will ever be able to repay their kindness, we do want to acknowledge them on this page.  Please know that if we forget to mention you on this page, you are not forgotten in our hearts.  Thank you to everyone who held Will's hand, held our hands, placed Will's picture on their refrigerator, and kept him in their hearts...  We apologize for any and all misspellings!

First of all...

We want to thank Dr. Linda Cripe, Dr. Stephen Roth, and Dr. Pedro del Nido.  Simply put, Will would not be alive today without the intervention of these skilled and caring physicians.

Family

Special thanks to our families, including Will's grandparents:  Dick & Mary Kwapil and Greg & Shirley Lewis; his uncles and aunts:  Bill Kwapil & Jane Craven, Mike & Cynda Sims, and David & Janet Schrieber; his cousins:  Cody, Jennefer, Karen, Soleh, Condro, and Peggy.  Thank you for sharing in the joy of our first child and for coming to Wisconsin in the middle of winter to keep us strong.  Thanks Aunt Cynda for the red cowboy boots and thanks to Peggy for making medical terms understandable.

Friends

To this day, it is hard for us to fully appreciate the outpouring of friendship and caring that our family has received from our many friends.  Will has been blessed with many honorary godparents, aunts, and uncles.  Our hearts are forever filled with your love, humor, and kindness.

Thanks to Will's "official" godparents, Tim & Jancy Strauman (we may even forgive you for giving Will a drum for his first Christmas).

Thanks to George O'Toole and Suzanne Carter for repeatedly opening your home to us while Will was in the hospital.  May our visits be as frequent, but under different circumstances.

Thanks to Drew's godparents, Don Lynam & Margo Monteith.  Thank you for always being there when we called and for introducing us to single malt scotch.

Thanks to Bob Gates and Lizzie Dew for many late night meals in the PICU and for letting the kids run amuck in your home.

Thanks to Nancy Sherwood for your babysitting, for teaching Will to wink, and for the many miles we ran.

Thanks to Mary Henriksen and Christina Anderson for giving Will a wonderful place to play and giving us time for much needed nights out!

Thanks to Brian Cali, Sophie Evett and the girls (when can Abby start dating?), Sarah Lord, Diane Miller, Bill Henry & Shelly Sandel, Aaron & Odulia Halstead, Joe Newman & Alida Evans, Randy & Cindy Winzen, and Barb Schuette.

Thanks also to Mike & Julie Brunner, Cathy Gaw, Valerie Stromquist, Victor & Erin Gonzales, Diane Gooding, Judy & Bob Patterson, Patty Deldin & Steve Rich, Ruth Benca, Erin Heerey, Doug Needles & Jenny White, Pam Rood, Jon Silver, Stevens Smith & Mary Lamon, Connie Bettin, Peggy Munson, Patty Coffey & Josh Day, Trish Devine, Lori & Ron Forstinger, Chandra Gates, Becky Gilman, Pete & Anne Herb, Mike Zinser & Suzanne Block, Loren & Jean Chapman, Greg & Laura Kolden, Kathy Bell, Nancy Davis, Jodi Snyder, Dean Traun, Bill Obermeyer, Susan Kenford, Rod Miller, Greg Van Rybroek, Ed Musholt, and Dave McCormick, Carolyn Cavanaugh & Charlie Toft, Brooks Brenneis, Dee Jones, Mary Brigham, Sue Killips, Will Shattuck, and Linda Baker.

Thanks to everyone who made meals for us so that we did not starve or have to eat hospital cafeteria food.

Thanks to all of our new friends in North Carolina who have cared for Will:  Tom & Susan Keane, Arthur Anastopolous & Terri Shelton, Susan & Charlie Calkins, Kurt & Dee Dee Boniecki, Kathy Bell & Bruce Riggs, Julie & Steve Jacks, John  Dunlosky, Amy Connolly, Rosemery Nelson-Grey, Scott Lawrence, and Brian & Kristie Bauer.

Thanks also to everyone on Insanity Defense and the Klinic Bar & Grill.

Care Providers

Thanks to the many care providers at the hospital who helped us through a harrowing ordeal.  Special thanks to Will's primary nurses, Anne Ruiz de Chavez, Lisa Schuler, Lisa Marian,  Joni Messner, Lori Schmeling, Karen Cotter, Jaime Franke, Amara Nicolai-Zander, Ann Coyne, and Karen Phillips.  Thank you for the love and medical expertise that you gave our child everyday.  Thanks to all of the other nurses  and aides who cared for Will.

Thanks to Dr. Greg Landry, Dr. Mary Schroth, Dr. Diane Heatly, Dr. Louis Leavitt, Craig Becker, Darcy Pfeil (for teaching us how to change trachs!), and Dr. Russell Hess.

Thanks to the many skilled trainees who worked with Will (including, but not limited to, Chris Koutures, Beth Neary, Gabriella Repetto, Dan Macklin, and Trisha Scheerer).

Thanks to all of the unit clerks, pharmacists, technicians, and respiratory therapists (especially Ted, Marsha, Stevie, Bill, Bill, Glen, Tami, Rachel, Sara, Debbie, Bob, Deb & Kelly).

Thanks to all of the caring speech, physical, and occupational therapists who have helped Will make up so much lost ground.  These include Jennifer Holmes, Jill Fons, Beth Fiore-Kral, Anne Demark-Thompson, Becky Jenn (Wahoo!), Jennifer Luedtke, Arlene Lukin, Mary Paul, Rae Sprague, and everyone at the Waisman Center and Dew Drops.

Thanks to Mary, Shannon, Sheila and all of the wonderful volunteers in the hospital's playroom.

Thanks to everyone at Children's Hospital of Boston, including Drs. Roth, del Nido, and Repetto, Dr. Richard Bartlett, Dr. Alan Retik, Dr. Margaret Kenna, Dr. Madsen, Michelle Kennedy, and Beth in the playroom.

Thanks to all of our physicians and therapists in North Carolina, including Dr. Rondall Young, Dr. Stephen Sanders, Dr. Robert Fitch, Dr. Timothy Murphy, Trisha Faircloth, Jenny Young, Dawn, Anne Lindberg, Martha, and Diane.

Special thanks to all of the families and patients we met while Will was in the hospital.  We especially remember the families who lost their children.

Additional Thanks

Additional thanks go out to Debbie, Paula, and the members of the CJD-Blood list serve.  Thanks also to Hal Harlowe, Michael Luebke, Michael Riley, and Robert Gingras.