This is an incredible book on many levels. Robert Macauley shares a unique point of view as a father who became a pediatric palliative care specialist, a clinical ethicist, and an Episcopalian priest. He depicts many moving situations with his patients and their families, as well as with his mentors and some professionals who opposed his views. While the subject matter is very intense and sometimes disturbing--how can it not when this book involves the deaths of children--the author never trivializes these experiences, and he gives them the reverence they deserve. He also bravely reveals his own traumatic background, but he doesn't make it the focus of the book. Instead, Macauley artfully weaves his early childhood trauma and how it shaped him throughout the work. The writing is outstanding and it makes for compelling reading. I was so glad I chose to read "Because I Knew You" for it has given me a little more empathy for the tragedies people suffer, and it reveals that sometimes miracles happen even during a heartbreaking time.