I usually focus on fiction, but when asked to review this amazing book, I couldn’t refuse. And I’m glad I didn’t.
She was too young. Too friendly, vivacious, athletic. She had too many opportunities left undone and too many loved ones to leave behind.
Yet leave, she did. So begins the painful, yet strangely healing, recent Revell release, Taylor’s Gift. Todd and Tara Storch tell the heartbreaking story of losing their oldest child with frank accounts of their grief. I particularly appreciate the accounts of the events from both points of view.
But this book goes beyond the event and consequences of losing their daughter, however. At risk were four other people. Their stories, included, are drastically changed by the sacrifice of Taylor and her parents. And the book is made even more beautiful by the interaction between them and Taylor’s family.
Perhaps the best part of this true story is the creation of the organization called Taylor’s Gift (Taylorsgift.org). The blessing of organ donation makes impacts to hundreds of people on a daily basis. But sadly, thousands die each year, waiting for their needed organ that never comes. Taylorsgift.org hopes to remedy that statistic.
This book is full of hope, blessing, and courage. Max Lucado pens the forward and perhaps wraps the point up best on the back cover: “May this story bring hope to anyone who has suffered tragedy. There is life after loss. It comes after a monsoon of tears. But it comes.”
If you are in the Dallas area, Todd and Tara Storch are visiting at Mardel Store in Lewisville at I35 and Hebron Parkway, Saturday, September 20th at 1PM.
Marji Laine 