i started off 2016 with hopes of publishing a story. my story. well, march is now turning into april and i have written a story. but it's not my own. it belongs to someone i really would have loved to have met. and i will. one day. because he lives in a special corner of heaven. his name is kulen. kulen passed away before he was born. he was a son, a grandson, and a brother. he left behind a family who loves him very much. and his story is so worth telling. let me start from the beginning... over the past three months i have had three women come into my life for separate reasons all sharing one thing: each woman has lost a child at some point during pregnancy. the more i talked with them, the more i held their hands, the more i came to love them, the more called i felt to do something to honor these lives. these small tiny lives. and to honor the families that grieve for them. i was struck by something one mom shared with me. she said the way she keeps her daughter's memory alive is to do good deeds in her name. i wanted in. so i started to think. i thought about the 1 in 4 women who lose a child at some point during pregnancy. i thought about the millions of families affected by this loss each year around the world. and i thought about how unfair it was that parents have to deal with sharing this tragic news with their families and, many times, their other babies. and so i thought to myself: what if there was a book that could be used as a tool to help lessen the blow of the news when sharing it with a child? it would be the story of kulen through the eyes of his three sisters. what they felt. how they hurt. and ultimately: how they healed. now, i've never written a piece of children's literature in my life. i never write with children in mind as my target audience. so i sat down at my computer and i prayed. "if this is a story you want to see: give me the words." and you know what? the words came. and in a beautiful stream of events kailen, kulen's sister, my student, was able to do the illustrations. and "a corner of heaven" was born. and with love and care it has grown. today, i submitted this story: kulen's story to a publisher who (fingers crossed) will make this book a reality for the families all over who have experienced this unthinkable kind of loss. i know that one day i will be able to share my story with the world. but for now, i can't describe to you what a privilege it has been to share kulen's story. to speak on behalf of someone who cannot speak for himself. this story is important. it is sad at times but it is significant and it's a story that NEEDS to be told. i can't wait for you to read it. until then, ld
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