. >> reporter: one of the 64 stories in pinsky's book is about linda starnes. she and her husband have two children, both with disabilities. her daughter, emily, has asperger syndrome, a form of autism. her younger son, mac, was born without a lower jaw and has lived his life connected to breathing and feeding tubes. when he was a baby, the doctors recommended that the parents sign a "do not resuscitate" order. >> and so we said we need to talk about this. we're not going to place that order right now. we need to pray about this, and we need to talk to our pastor, and decided that we would allow the course that god had for mac to take place, and so we said we will not make that decision. you do everything you can for our son, and so they said this means a life on a ventilator, and we said that's okay. we're going to be up for that challenge. >> reporter: her daughter, emily, is now a freshman at the university of tennessee. mac plays the xylophone in the school band and has dreams of becoming a motivational speaker and/or a preacher. stanley hauerwas, a profess