I wrote a children's book about death...

I wrote a children's book about death.
It is based on a conversation my nephew and I had when my step-father died.
I would like to one day have it illustrated and published.
It is meant to be interactive and read while eating chocolates (I prefer M&Ms).



 When Grandpa Died
 Teaching Young Children About Death
                                                               By Jennifer Smith

Bradley was eight years old. He had a Grandpa, Grandpa Jeffrey, who had been very sick for a very long time. He was sick in bed at his home with Grandma Elaine and then he was sick in bed at a hospital.
Bradley loved his Grandpa very much. He wished Grandpa Jeffrey would get better and take him on walks and play with him like he did when Bradley was very little.
 But Grandpa Jeffrey did not get better. He got thinner and more ill. One day Grandma Elaine said, “It’s time to say goodbye to Grandpa, he will be gone soon.”
Bradley wondered, “Where is Grandpa going to go? Would his doctors let him take a trip? Was he getting better?”
All of Bradley’s aunts and uncles and cousins gathered at the hospital.  Aunt Jen flew on an airplane to say goodbye to Grandpa.
With all his family in the room, Grandpa made a noise and then got very quiet. Everyone cried. The doctor came in and told them Grandpa had died.
Bradley looked at his Grandpa. He looked just the same as he did yesterday. What was this doctor talking about? 
“He looks like he’s sleeping, how do you know he’s not just sleeping?” Bradley asked everyone in the room.
His Aunt Jen took his hand and placed it on her chest. “Do you feel my heart?” she asked.  Bradley felt a soft drum beat and nodded.
Aunt Jen placed his hand on Grandpa Jeffrey’s chest. “Do you feel a heartbeat?” As much as he concentrated, there was no soft drum beat, Grandpa’s chest was still.
“Cup your hands around your mouth and nose like this” Aunt Jen showed him. He could feel and hear his own warm breath on his hands.
“Now cup your hand around Grandpa’s nose and mouth” She urged him. Nothing. No warm breath. No air moving.
Bradley took Aunt Jen’s hand and took Grandpa’s hand. Grandpa’s hand felt … different. Grandpa’s hand did not hold his hand back.
“Grandpa Jeffrey is not in this body anymore.” Aunt Jen told him.
“Where did he go?” Bradley asked.
Aunt Jen reached into her purse and pulled out a bag of chocolate candy.  She very carefully opened one end at the seam, careful not to rip the bag.
 She poured out all the candy into her hand.
 “Our bodies are like this bag of candy. When it is empty it still looks the same, but the good parts are no longer in there. We treat our bodies, the vessels that carried us, with respect. Some people bury them in the ground. Some people cremate them and take their ashes somewhere special. Some people donate parts to help others live, or to help doctors learn.”
“What happens to the good stuff inside?” Bradley asked.
  “The part of Grandpa that loved you so much and the part of him that you love, you get to keep inside you forever.” And she gave Bradley a few pieces of the candy.
“The part that loved Grandma Elaine and the part that she loves, she gets to keep forever.” Aunt Jen gave Grandma Elaine a few pieces of candy. She and Bradley went around the room passing candy pieces of Grandpa’s love to everyone.
“What about the love that is left, where does that go? Is that what goes to heaven?” Bradly asked, looking at the remaining candy in Aunt Jen’s hand.
“Some people believe we go to heaven, some believe we get reincarnated into a new body, some believe we disappear into nothing. I believe we become part of the energy that flows through everything.

What do you believe?”
“I believe in heaven. I believe the rest of Grandpa is in heaven.”

Grandma Elaine smiled, “Grandpa Jeffrey believed in heaven, too.”