It would be impossible to keep track of all the people that we encounter during the course of a lifetime however the few that affect and change us forever could be counted on the fingers of one hand. There are people such as those depicted within this book. There are a lot of people whose stories are told here: their lives their times and their fate but there was one who changed everyone around her without ever trying. An Angel is born spans the course of nearly seven decades and looks back at a time when things were simpler yet not always better. If you are nostalgic you'll reminisce if you are a parent you will appreciate if you are spiritual you will be sustained and if you have a heart you will be forever moved.

Their lives their world their future lay before them sweet and dying...

Angel's parents sat at her bedside holding her hand and whispering sacred words of encouragement with agonizing thoughts of farewell. Then a voice from the Holy Firmaments of heaven spoke to them saying "You are now separated..."

...a story about how generations shaped by the unique demands of Appalachia helped one kid to thrive against all odds.

"An Angel Is Born is much more than a story about the life and death of an amazing girl with special needs. Nostalgic honest and moving this is a contemplative history of how every life-and every death-adds its own thread to the tapestry of a family and community." - Angela Wiechmann, editor

A lot of young men are proud to follow in their father's footsteps but Wynn Johnson of Plymouth Minn. knew better than to become a coal miner one of the most dangerous professions there is. Before he was born Johnson's father had been injured so badly in a coal mining accident he was disabled. His paternal grandfather had also been crippled in a coal mining accident and his grandfather on his mother's side had been killed.

So on Sept. 9 1971 with a high school diploma under his belt Johnson left his hometown of Weeksbury Ky. and headed out into the world to seek his fortune. He moved to Springfield Ohio and worked for a short time at Vining Broom a manufacturing company that made brooms and mops. In the mid 1970s he joined the Marines and traveled the world.

After his tour of duty ended he returned to Vining Broom and became a plant manager. He remained in that position for a few years then left to start up his own contracting company in 1980. Today Johnson remains an independent contractor working in the communications industry. He works frequently for Frontier Communications installing and testing electronics and cable.

Johnson attended Wright State University in Dayton Ohio. He and his family now call Minnesota's Twin Cities area home.