Doing rounds with Dr. McKusick, who took this photo. I’m shaking hands with one of his patients here.
Dr. Kopits and Dr. Jen at her graduation dinner.
Jen and Mom at the grand opening of the new Simulation Center at Texas Children’s Hospital.
In my apartment in medical school in my short white coat.
Jen and Diane (aka The Matchmaker).
This is the first-date weekend. Here we are at Jen’s birthday party hosted by her BFF, Lakshmi.
Jen’s brother, David, with his girlfriend and soon-to-be fiancée, Lisa, at our engagement party.
The proud dad gets to walk Jen down the aisle.
The boys. Everyone except for the father of the bride accounted for. He’s probably doing a last-minute background check on me.
Us on St. Pete Beach on our wedding day.
Us walking “into the sunset.”
Someone must have said something funny!
My beautiful mom in her lovely dress. May I have this dance?
Just a good picture of Jen. Isn’t she pretty?
Will and Zoey in our driveway, hoping for rain!
Dad and Debbie and the five boys.
Zoey and Will in one of the modules in the NASA International Space Station . . . the one in Houston, not in space.
What happens in Houston stays in Houston.
Zoey loves her cupcakes. Even the plastic ones.
If Zoey tried to smile any more, her teeth might crumble. Happy Valentine’s Day!
Will and Zoey taking a stroll through the leaves in front of our house just before Christmas 2014.
Comparing wheels.
Zoey getting in some reading before bed.
Rocky and Maggie.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
WE WOULD LIKE TO acknowledge all of the people who have loved, encouraged, and supported us:
To Lisa Pulitzer, Martha Smith, Steve Ross, and the wonderful team at Simon & Schuster, without whom this book would not be possible.
Our wonderful children, William Ri Jin Klein and Zoey Nidhi Klein.
Our ever supportive, inspiring, and loving parents and stepparents, David and Judy Arnold, Bill and Debbie Klein, Barbara and Chuck Croner.
Our most awesome brothers, stepbrothers, and fantastic families, Thomas, Christine, Riley, and Reagan Klein; Joseph, Karen, Dorinda, and Joseph T. W. Klein; David and Lisa Arnold; Jonathan, Debra, and Maddie Richman; and James and Kayla Richman.
To our dogs, Rocky and Maggie, for being warm and fuzzy all of the time. To all our pets that have gone on to heaven.
Our extended family: Jack and Barbara Douglas; Pat, Dawn, Patrick, and Paige Diecidue; Diane Diecidue; John Klein; Al and Carol Cook; Eleanor Madigan; Lorraine Croner; Aunt Jean Carey; Dennis Jr., Cindy, Juliet, Grace, and Dennis III Carey; Donald and Pat Pappas; Joe Iuliucci; Sandee Caldwell Shuman; Tish Houts Russell; Wayne Shipman; Sybil Shipman; Cheryl Shipman; Linda Underwood; Michelle Jolly Martinez; Pam Arnold; James Arnold; Buddy; Debbie Charest; Donna Charest; Russell Charest; Erica Charest; and of course, Raymond Charest.
Our dearest of friends Nikhil Shirali and Lakshmi Reddy, David and Cindy Daubel, BJ and Andria Donohue, Tara Kaheny, Susan Raine, Dan and Susan Leong-Stine, Rick and Leigh Ann Cates, Amit and Chetna Bhattacharyya, Rajiv and Manju Kulkarni, Christopher DeLuccio, Mike and Andrea Sperduti, Joan Sperduti, Eileen and Sebastian Tongston, Danny and Jenn Hart, Paul Sirbaugh, and Rick and Cheryl Kuykendall.
To Julie Carson May and Roger Armstrong for your professional and personal guidance.
To my colleagues at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s, especially Drs. Welty, Kline, Lorin, Giardino, and Schutze and Mr. Mark Wallace.
To Kate Apffel for everything you do for our family.
To Maria Smith for taking care of our home.
To Jessica, Tasha, and the Rocky & Maggie’s team, past, present, and future!
To the simulation center team and leaders: Kelly Wallin, Claire Tallinger, Melissa Cashin, Dan Feux, Leisa Chancey, Courtney Washington, Mary Jo Andre, and Trudy Leidich.
To the newborn center faculty and staff at Texas Children’s Hospital for your collaboration.
To my simulation mentors at UPMC, especially Drs. Mindy Fiedor Hamilton and Patrick Kochanek.
To my colleagues and mentors from Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, especially Drs. Dena Hofkosh, Ellen Wald, Jennifer Kles, Andy Nowalk, Andy Urbach, and all my co-residents, especially Jodi and Eyal, Lara, Roy, Dina, and Melinda.
To my former bosses, Drs. Jan Larson, Ann Stark, and Gary Silverman.
To Gay Dunton and Adrienne Otto Frame for mentoring me as an RA.
To Tad Foote for believing in me at the U of M.
To Niki Kazaskos for getting us out there!
To Chloe Dao for getting Jen all dressed up.
To Dr. Robert Boostanfar, the staff at HRC, and the team at CSP.
To our LP friends, especially Bobby and Angela Van Etten, Martha Holland Stanley and Steve Stanley, Bazhena and Tony Barker, Jeff Weiser, Charla Baklayan Faddoul, Vincent and Nicole DePaul, Laura Stout, Barbara Spiegel, Matt and Amy Roloff, Patti Yoder, Doreen Lackner, Frank Shomilak, Mark Trombino, Clinton Brown III, Gary Arnold, Francisca Winston, Michelle Kraus, Anna Adelson, Melody Winn, and Michelle Struss.
To my friends from Johns Hopkins Class of 2000, especially Aimee Nielson, Michelle Nee, and my roomies Aruna, Carmen, Traci, and Asma.
To the countless physicians, nurses, therapists, technicians, and staff at Johns Hopkins Hospital and St. Joseph’s Hospital in Townson, Maryland.
To Drs. Michael Bober and William MacKenzie for being such caring specialists for our children.
To everyone from LMNO, including Eric Schotz, Ed Horwitz, Ruth Rivin, Melissa Rabinowitz, Lisa Bourgoujian, Jan Lonsdale, Jared Podos, Art Sarkisyan, Carol-Ann Merrill, Ricky Wiebe, Ben Hurvitz, and our editors Ryan Ely and Adrian Herrera.
To our local film crew that has followed us around the world, twice, including Anne Hill, Jimmy Wong, Jaime Cervantes, Pierre Meunier, Erica Olivarez, Ben Kenniston, Will Zilliox, Jeanene Wood, Lainie Jasko, Tiff Winton, Luke Neslage, JR Rodriguez, Trisha Boyd, and Raul Casares.
To Steve Neild, Zane Wilmans, and Michael Leal for watching our backs.
To my classmates at St. Charles, Bishop Moore, and my fellow pediatric residency friends.
To Asha Sadan and New Day for caring for our beautiful children until we found them.
To Children’s Hope, especially Tina Qualls and Illien Adoptions and Anna Belle Illien and Michele Henry for helping us get our children.
To LPA Adoptions and Rainbow Kids for helping orphans with medical complexities find their forever families, including ours.
To Colleen Giofreida and Martha Osbourne for finding our beautiful children for us.
To all of the supportive folks at Discovery Communications, including David Zaslov, Joe Abruzzese, Eileen O’Neill, Marjorie Kaplan, Nancy Daniels, Jennifer Williams, Howard Lee, Wendy Douglas, Laurie Goldberg, Dustin Smith, Elizabeth Melcher, Michelle Theisen, Ed Sabin, Amy Winters, Meaghan Werner, and Shannon Llanes for documenting some of the most trying and triumphant moments in our lives.
To Victoria Calloway and Cinthia Moore for making us look good and feel good. To Grayson Jacobs and Kitsa Stefanidis for friendship and good-looking hair, even when Jen had none.
To my University of Miami foursome: Sonal Patel, Suketu Mansuria, and Walter Wilcox (aka Wally).
To my NYU gang: Albert and Jennifer Heffez, Sara Bowman, Karin Tracy, Michelle Blaustein, Kathy Reeves, Jordan Hoffman, Jorge Matos, AKB, Seth Margulies, Joanna Harp, and Sam Heffez.
Thank you to the brave men and women of the Terryville Fire Department for always looking out for us and our family.
To the teachers and staff of Comsewogue School District in Port Jefferson Station, Long Island, New York, for being great educators and supporters and for providing guidance when I needed it.
To our matchmaker, wedding singer, and right hand to Dr. Kopits for
many, many years, Diane Hawes.
To Gloria Brannon and Lulu Santos for taking care of our family so many times.
To Cindy and James for trying to help us have a baby.
To our friends and nurses Donna Buscemi, Bill Goff, Mary Beth, Katie, Janine, Mary Anne, and Mary Joe.
To Dr. Conchi Diaz-Arrastia for saving my wife’s life.
To Patti Frimmer, Gloria Daubel, Grace DeFabio, and Nancy Staudenraus for supporting me and my mom, and for watching out for my brothers when I couldn’t.
We want to remember, acknowledge, honor, and celebrate those we’ve lost: Patrick and Desiree Diecidue, Isaac and Lorraine Shipman, Sally Charest, Sylvia Klein, Mo Croner, and Dr. Steven Kopits, whose contribution to the care of those with skeletal dysplasia cannot be underestimated. Especially grateful for the love and care we have received from Dr. Kopits, without which we may not be the people we are today.
And from Jen to Aunt Chrissy: I thank you so much for being my best friend. I pray each day that you are finally in peace.
JENNIFER ARNOLD, MD, grew up in Orlando, Florida. After earning a degree in biology and psychology from the University of Miami, Jennifer went on to complete her medical degree at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and graduated in 2000. She is board certified and practices as an assistant professor of pediatrics and neonatology at Baylor College of Medicine and as medical director of the Simulation Center at Texas Children’s Hospital. She is married to her best friend, Bill Klein. They live in Houston, Texas, and have two children, so she is busier than ever before. Jennifer and Bill are the stars of TLC’s The Little Couple.
BILL KLEIN grew up on Long Island, New York. After earning a degree in biology from NYU, Bill worked in sales and sales management for public and private companies. He has found his niche as an entrepreneur. After creating a consultancy that worked with companies large and small, Bill built two new businesses, the first being Candu Enterprises, where he and his wife, Jennifer, provide a variety of media-related services, including making appearances at schools and other institutions to aid in the campaign to stop bullying. Most recently, Bill created Rocky & Maggie’s, a pet supply business named after the family dogs. Bill Klein is married to his best friend, Jennifer Arnold. They live in Houston, Texas, and have two children. Bill and Jennifer are the stars of TLC’s The Little Couple.
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Copyright © 2015 by Jennifer Arnold, MD, and Bill Klein
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First Howard Books hardcover edition May 2015
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Interior design by Davina Mock-Maniscalco
Jacket Design by Thinkpen Design/Greg Jackson
Author and Family Photographs © Dean Dixon Photography
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Little couple (Television program)
Life is short (no pun intended) / Jennifer Arnold, MD, and Bill Klein. —First
Howard Books hardcover edition
pages cm
1. Arnold, Jennifer, 1974– 2. Klein, Bill, 1974– 3. Dwarfs—United States—Biography. 4. Television personalities—United States—Biography. I. Klein, Bill, 1974– II. Title.
CT9992.A76A3 2015
791.4502'80922—dc23
[B] 2015007628
ISBN 978-1-4767-9470-9
ISBN 978-1-4767-9471-6 (ebook)
Life Is Short (No Pun Intended) Page 25