Oh The Place Where I Went

About the Book

I can’t recall who it was who read my book when I first wrote it, but they had children and I thought they would be a good critic. After they finished the book they said that it would probably be “hard to swallow” for most children. Later that year they lost a loved one and called me to further relate the story. Their children had lost their grandfather and they were beside themselves. One night before bed, they read them my book. “It was pure magic.” they said. In an instance their children were at rest with the loss of their grandfather. “The simplest way to put it is that the book helped them get it, they finally understood what happened to their grandfather and where he went.” It was then that I knew that this book needed to be published. If only to help others the way it helped them.

Dealing with death is never easy. As adults we deny it before we deal with it. We like to think it could never happen to us. We call death names like “the end” or “the final curtain.” Call it what you want but the reality is death is death and it comes to all of us. It effects children even more than adults. The concept of death is spoken less in a family than the concept of where babies come from. Children become almost afraid to ask questions about death mostly because they see how afraid we as parents are of it. But to a child, death is not only confusing, it is final! And there is no distinction in death. The loss of your child’s pet hamster is just as final and devastating to them as the loss of their grandparent. Unfortunatley, adults just push it aside without explanation because when we were children we were not taught about it and our questions went unanswered by our parents. Does this sound familiar? “Mommy, why did the hamster die and where did he go?” “Oh, he went where all things that die go, to heaven.” “ But what’s heaven mommy, and where is it, will I go there when I die? “Sweetheart, we all go to heaven when we die, now finish eating your breakfast or you’ll be late for school.”

That was my childhood and I didn’t want that for my children. So when my daughter came home from school one day after her class read “Oh, the places you’ll go!” by Dr. Suess and she asked me if I knew where Dr. Suess went, I thought, yes I know where he went. So I wrote this book to tell my child where Dr. Suess is and where she will be along with me some day many many years from now. It’s a place where what we did here is all up there, and all that is up there is what we did here. It is as simple as that, what we knew and saw here is what we know and see up there!!!

This book is a must for anybody. As my six year old told me after her “pet” beetle died and she was upset and confused, so I read her my book. “ She said “Oh Daddy, now I get it, he’s not here now, but I’ll see him again.” Yes you will sweetheart, many years from now when you go to the place where I went….

About the Author