Two Small Footprints in Wet Sand

The empowering and inspiring true story of a parent devoted to making the most of her child's short but beautiful life.

On the day lovely little Thaïs turned two, her mother, Anne-Dauphine Julliand, discovered that her child had an untreatable genetic disease, the rarest of the rare, a silent disorder that would advance, slowly paralyze her daughter's nervous system, and eventually take her life. Metachromatic leukodystrophy—MLD—was the diagnosis. There was no cure.

Two Small Footprints in Wet Sand is the true tale of a blissfully happy little girl, and of family, friends, and the medical community united to define life by its beauty rather than its length. In this inspiring and honest book, Julliand explores not only the pain, exhaustion, discouragement, and burdens, but also the promise of happy and fulfilling existence for Thaïs, and the quest to "add life to days when we cannot add days to life." With her "exceptional insights" (Elle), Julliand "charts suffering of mythic proportions, [and] the lessons gleaned from her daughters prove incredibly wise. Unflinching and inspirational, [Two Small Footprints in Wet Sand is] a parent's powerful tale of finding love and understanding beyond the senses."—Kirkus Reviews