Today is my little brother John’s 60th birthday! Kalei’s ‘Nuncle (that is what she called him folks) John and Aunty Carol live in Saskatchewan. They are grain farmers. Poor John, being born into a farming/ranching family and then becoming one himself, meant more often than not his birthday was smack dab in the middle of harvest. That meant no parties and often little or no time for birthday celebrations. That was not going to happen on his 60th! Conspiring with Aunty…..
Every now and then someone will say to me, “When you wrote and published Forever Kalei’s Mom, you took something bad — her death — and turned it into something good.” While I might not totally subscribe to the accuracy of that statement (it implies a conscious plan, and the book was anything but that), I appreciate the meaning behind their words. For me, the something of value (sorry, I just can’t use good) comes from the sum of three things: Kalei’s life, her death and the grief…..