After Floral Park native Valentina Janek met a little girl named Nicole, she knew she had a unique story to tell. In Janek's recently released book, In Love and Friendship, she chronicles the true story of how a medical catastrophe, caused by the near drowning of Centereach resident Nicole Caputo, brought her and childhood friend Gerri Harkins closer when they took up Nicole's cause.

Janek and Harkins, "sisters at heart," began their friendship as buddies attending Floral Park schools. Both are previous graduates of Floral Park Memorial High School, St. Hedwig grade school and St. Hedwig Parish Church and John Lewis Childs School. "This is the short story about the love, friendship and kinship of Nicole, and the two women who took up her cause and deepened their relationship as a by-product of their efforts on Nicole's behalf," Janek said.

To Janek, who lived in Floral Park until 1991 and now resides in West Hempstead, Nicole's gradual recovery is the hopeful miracle ending. "Too often we tend to be so wrapped up in the everyday minutiae of life that we sometimes forget how easy it is to touch a life," she said.

The young girl was brought back to life by emergency medical technicians but suffered severe brain damage that prevented her from walking or talking. As the founder and co-founder of The Hope For Nicole Foundation, which raises money to offset Nicole's costly medical bills, Janek and Harkins thank all of Nicole's friends and family for their participation in ensuring Nicole's recovery, which is dependent on hyperbaric treatments.

At $200 per session, the hyperbaric treatments are expensive and not covered by medical insurance. A year-and-a-half and nearly 100 treatments later, Nicole is, at last, beginning to respond, Janek said. She has begun to smile and make sounds. She can smile at her brother and sister. She laughs when handed a favorite toy. "It seems like a miracle for a little girl who nearly lost it all three years ago," Janek added.

Janek, who began work on the book when she became unemployed and worked with a print on demand company in getting it self-published, is proud of her labor of love. "Although it's a small story book, it's like giving someone a greeting card with a very strong message in it about friends, buddies and friendships," she said.

Janek continued, adding, "We believe it was destiny that we met this loving child, which has brought together a kinship of love and friendship among the community."

In Love and Friendship is a quick read that Janek believes would appeal to a wide audience, including men, women, teens, religious visionaries and individuals who want to be inspired or are experiencing a major catastrophe and believe support of others is key to recovery.

The author intends to market the book to educators and teens to understand what it means to get involved in projects with friends to help others. "If publishing this book, and having the young people get motivated to help one other person in their life, it will have been worth all the angst, as volunteering to help someone else is a learning experience, and can give you a life's lesson in appreciation for the simple things in your life that may be difficult for others experiencing difficulty," Janek said.

In Love and Friendship can be purchased in Floral Park at Levine's on Tulip Avenue and Family Bagels on Jericho Turnpike and at Seventh Street Stationary in Garden City. Those interested can also order copies at www.pro-fusion.us. For more information, email vjanek@optonline.net.