I was 19 and Stacy 20 when we married. I was already a junior at Henderson State University a small Arkansas state college. By age 21, I had graduated with a BA in Chemistry and started medical school at UAMS in Little Rock. From graduation at 25, we moved to Tulsa, where I spent three years in the OU Tulsa Medical College Pediatrics residency program. Andrea was born there. In my first practice in south Arkansas, Laura was born. Our lives changed dramatically because she had severe fetal isotretinoin embryopathy. Stacy and I lost Laura in 2012 at age 24. Andrea had married a few years prior. She and Eric live a few miles from us in Senoia, Georgia with our four grandchildren, Harrison, Bennett, Emmaline, and Adelle. Stacy and I will celebrate 37 years of marriage this December. A Mere Christian is dedicated to Andrea and Laura. I love you girls so very much! Ron Smith, MD, April 2014