I read a book this week, simply entitled Daniel, by my high school friend and classmate, Tammy Chupp.
Tammy and I were in the same grade in school. After graduation, she went on to earn a nursing degree, got married, and had a little boy named Daniel. When Daniel was 13 months old, he was killed in a freak accident.
I honestly was so nervous buying Tammy's book. As a mother of many children, some of them still quite young, the reality of death in children is very hard. I have suffered much anxiety at the thought of losing a child because it happens. It does. In Daniel's case, it was a tragic combination of events and I know know know that there but for the grace of God go I. I have lost track of kids briefly. I was afraid of reading about it both because my heart weeps for Tammy and her husband and because I was worried I'd be sad and upset after reading the book.
But I wasn't. I read it in its entirety in one day and it was wonderful. Yes, very very sad. But Tammy and Rod, her husband, are devout believers of Jesus and through the absolute agony of loss, they clung to Jesus. It has been more than 25 years since Daniel went to be with Jesus, and the Chupps are now a happy family. They were blessed with 3 more beautiful children and now they serve the Lord, and live a good and joyful life, in the same area where we went to high school together.
I truly appreciate real books about grief. I have had my own share of grief, though nothing as agonizing and visceral as the loss of a baby I'd met and loved. I've lost 6 babies to miscarriage and those deaths were very very difficult, but that is different from an empty house where a baby once roamed free and happy.
So yes, Tammy's book balances real sorrow with real hope. It isn't trite in any way. Losing their son was a horrible, painful experience. But God was with them always.
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