Parkin, Jeff

Heading into 2002, Jeff Parkin and Lynda Thompson did not know each other. One night in January of that year, their paths crossed in an Internet bingo room and a friendship was forged. During one of their many discussions on Instant Messenger, Jeff learned that Lynda, now 38 and living in London, Ontario Canada, had a dream of writing a book about her trials and tribulations involving her son Mitchell, who was born with cerebral palsy.

Jeff, 46, who lives in a small town in Northwestern Pennsylvania and had for many years wrote sports articles for a local newspaper, offered to help Lynda tr...