Leaving Death in the Dust

dedication, foreword, and acknowledgements

For those who are living with chronic illness.
May you find purpose and meaning in your suffering
and remain hopeful when you feel its despair.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

This is a work of non-fiction, a true story. The names, places, and incidences presented here are very real people, real places, and real actual events that took place in my life, to the best of my knowledge and recollection. Other people in my life may have experienced or remember events a bit differently than the way I have presented them here. Most of the names I have used in this book are real, unless they were changed for the sake of privacy. The nicknames of real people, who are very dear to me, have been used as well.

Leaving Death in the Dust. Copyright © 2025 by Stephanie Schaible All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of very brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Acknowledgements

I am truly thankful for this late blooming, better late than never, journey of self-discovery; for a God, Jesus Christ, who made me just as I am; and for the breadcrumb trail he left behind for me to find myself on along the way.

Foreword

Leaving Death in the Dust, “Threads” a poem written by Babby Napier

Have you ever taken the time to study a thread?
I bet the answer is no, 
Me either, at least not until I met a human thread 
and now that human thread                  
Has become one of my very best friends
Which also got me thinking,                                                                                      

I believe threads are how this world is held together.
I think everywhere we look, 
the things we see as the weakest things in the world, 
Become some of the strongest things in the world,
Because threads hold everything together.

Just look around and you will see 
How threads hold everything together.

Let’s get back to my thread, my human friend,
I realized she was the real deal 
When she and her hubby moved from Utah, 
Her home, 
To a little town in Tennessee, 
His home.

Why? 
She did it knowing His folks were alone, 
Which brought about worry,
So, my thread, my friend, got busy 
And did something about it.
 
She packed up her family Like the Beverly hillbillies, 
And moved to Tennessee,
Like RUTH in the Bible.

I call her Ruth Because she has lived that story, 
Like a stranger in a strange land.
I know she misses her family, 
But I’m sure glad I have her as a great friend.

Do you see where I’m going with this idea 
Of her being a thread?
She holds many things together, 
A thread that reaches from Utah to Tennessee,
Reaches family, friends, and strangers 
With her writings that helps so many, 
Including me.

God bless threads, 
Because one of them reaches straight to my heart 
And it’s one strong thread.

Prologue - Leaving Death in the Dust