This is going to be a little different from the normal format, because this book is a little different. It is also the debut of nonfiction here on Unless you Write It!
This isn't going to be divided into sections for haven't read/ have read. It is also not going to be given a rating. Spoilers don't really apply. It will also be largely about a cause.
I took care last time I went to the library, carefully examining the books before I checked them out. I didn't want to end up with another Placebo. I try to balance my fiction with a little smattering of nonfiction, so as I was checking out the nonfiction section this book caught my eye. Reading the blurb, I realized I had to read it. I'll explain why in a second.
This book is about two parents, Tara and Todd Storch. They, along with their three kids, were a happy, fairly affluent Texas family. They were a great family, all very close, all very happy. Then, when Taylor, their oldest daughter, was almost fourteen, the family took a ski trip to Vail. A fun day on the slopes went horribly, terribly wrong, and left two grieving parents surrounding their brain-dead daughter in a hospital room. And then the fateful question; "would you like to donate Taylor's organs?"
They said, without having to think about it, yes. It's what they knew Taylor would have wanted. The majority of the book is spent exploring their grief (some of the scenes are painfully, brutally, tear-jerkingly written) and also how they channeled their grief into something great: the Taylor's Gift foundation, which promotes and advocates for organ donation. It is also about the people who received Taylor's organs, and how their lives have been changed so dramatically for the better.
That is why I wanted to read this book. I am a HUGE supporter of organ donation. I always have been. The thought of life-giving organs rotting in the ground or burning in a fire is sickening to me. I am also on the National Bone Marrow Donor registry, if you're interested you can sign up here: bethematch.org. The ONLY thing you have to do is swab a cheek with the kit they send you and send it back. You do not have to do any other medical tests to be on the registry.
But besides that, I promise that this reading experience will be very visceral. I was a bit skeptical when I saw that there was a ghostwriter (Co-writer? What do you call these people???) named Jennifer Schuchmann. I am always very skeptical of these books because I've always felt that if you can't write a book on your own you probably don't have any business writing one. But then I stopped sticking my nose in the air and realized that this book isn't about literary merit (though, whoever wrote it and in what combination, it is beautifully written). It's about telling a personal story, celebrating a life, and promoting a cause. It is not about extended metaphor and subplot and pacing and all the things on which we normally judge a book. It is a great, though heart-wrenching, read. Should someone be excluded from telling an important story because they aren't the strongest writers?
One thing I learned was that just because your driver's license says "organ donor" (and mine does, and has since the day I got it on my 16th birthday) doesn't mean your organs will be donated. The best thing to do is make sure you are on your state's official registry, and you can do that through taylorsgift.org (I went and joined the registry just in case). It is also very important to make it very clear to your close family that you want your organs donated, and which ones. I have point-blank told my family, "when I die, I want all my organs donated." They are all very clear on this issue. It is an option to have some organs donated but not others, and if that is your wish, be sure to specify which ones you are willing to donate and which you aren't. Of course, I hope you choose to donate them all! Please note that dying from a disease, such as cancer, does not preclude you from donation. My mom is an oncology nurse and many of her patients, who have died of cancer, donate their corneas. Also, even disease-riddled organs can be very useful to medical research, which can also contribute to saving lives. Barring that, real corpses are needed to do things such as calibrate crash test dummies, which enable manufacturers to make cars safer, and, again, save lives. My objective is for my body to be put to good use after I'm dead. Organ donation is my first choice but if that isn't possible, then I want it to be put to good use in other ways. For a great book about how your dead body can be used, I'd recommend Mary Roach's delightfully macabre book, Stiff.
Of course, none of us want this to be an issue that crops up soon. We want to die a long time from now. But as Taylor's death shows, you just never know. Isn't it better to take a few simple steps to ensure that your remains could save a life, no matter when you die? You truly can, as Taylor's Gift foundation says, outlive yourself. How cool is that?
So this for me was more than a book. It was a reminder that good can come out of tragedy and that we can all take a simple step that makes a HUGE difference. Truly Tara and Todd are amazing people. But it also is, inescapably, a book. And, I think, a pretty darn good one.
Please check out taylorsgift.org to learn more about Taylor and organ donation.
