Jace's Library

While we patiently wait for the day when we can be home together as a family of four, Jillian and I are taking turns being with Jace.

This weekend we decided that the best possible care for him would be for us to take turns being there with him full time.

When I'm with him, I've taken to reading stories to him. It's something I started with Addi when she was in the NICU, and I even started with the same story I first read aloud to Addi, "The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane." I had forgotten what a wonderful story and adventure that book was, but as I held him and read to him, I was once again absorbed in the words and imagery of a story about a china rabbit's adventure to find love while longing to be reunited with his original owner.

The themes of the story resonated particularly strongly with me this time. Maybe it's because Jillian and I have taken so many journeys of our own in the last four years, and met so many wonderful people who have altered the course of our lives, affected us personally for the better, and helped us understand what true, unconditional love for others is all about. We truly are so blessed to have the friends and family we do, and to have met the most extraordinary people (both extraordinarily wonderful and extraordinarily...un-wonderful), all of whom have made our family the family it is.

When we finished this journey, we decided to continue. Perhaps the story of a china rabbit sparked a memory of a story from my youth, but while Addi and I searched the public library for a new book to read to Jace, I remembered the title of a book, and was so excited when the library had it in stock (expecially since the book was first written in the 1930s). And so, our second book was "The Five Chinese Brothers."

This story is a simple children's storybook, but it is crammed full of so many themes and messages that helped define me and my values. My mom read it to us as children, and we requested it so many times that I had it pretty much memorized. This story is where I first learned the values of obedience (and the consequences of disobedience) and loyalty to family, the legal process, and believe it or not, was my first exposure to superheroes and superpowers.

After this brief, but important story, we chose a Christmas story for Christmas Eve. "Great Joy" is another children's picture book, but because it is written and illustrated by the same team who did "Edward Tulane", it is so much more than a picture book. The story about a young girl who teaches compassion, sympathy and Christ like love is an atmospheric tale that transfixes you while you're lost in its pages. And when the last pages come, you can't help but be filled with the true meaning of Christmas.

And because we were on a roll, Jace and I next began reading another book by Kate DiCamillo. This one, entitled "The Magician's Elephant" is new to me, but once again, the story, like "Edward Tulane" and "Great Joy", is filled with beautifully descriptive language, wonderful characters, and seems to have been written to be read aloud. It's a more lengthy book, similar to "Edward Tulane", so we're off on another lengthier journey after reading a few picture books. We'll let you know what we think!

Regardless of whether this story is of the same quality as our first two, though, the time spent together in these magnificent worlds and stories is time we hope will spark Jace's imagination from the very beginning, just like it did for his big sister.