I don’t want the only things I share about Jackson to be about money, but this is a neat project that I thought I would share here.  I wrote the following for his school newsletter. They made a Children’s book for our son and it is only available to order until 11/16:

We are a damaged family right now. You don’t lose a son and heal back to normal. Everyone, EVERYONE, that I have had the pleasure to converse with on Jackson has a similar circumstance or tragic loss. Sandra McGraw, Bill Liter, Nate Schoenig, Rick Reiman . . . every day, I learn of a new set of lives lost too soon.  Shawna’s nephew Jacob Durbin, a sweet young man, overdoses on drugs this week. I go to the doctor and the nurse asks me how many children I have, and I pause, not knowing what the number is. I finally say, “I have three, but my oldest just passed away”. Later in the conversation I learn that her father-in-law just committed suicide.  At the grade school where I attended, St. Henry, the second-grade teacher, MrsWilliams is 29 years old.  She called to tell her husband, Adam, while holding her new baby born this September, that she was dizzy.  He came home to find her dead on the couch.  Life is hard for everyone.  How special is Jackson?

For the first few months after Jackson’s death, many people and organizations reached out to offer to memorialize Jackson somehow.  Would you like to retire his basketball number? We’d like to donate a gift in his name. We would like to start a golf outing. There was a construction company in Florida that bought a bunch of trees to plant out west. The pediatric cancer community wants to honor him.  The list goes on and on.  But it kept occurring to me . . . I am not sure how special Jackson is. 

While we were in the hospital this past Spring, Heather Kuenning referred Jackson’s story to her friend Sarah Curry Rathelat “The Smile Books Project”. You can learn more about Sarah’s mission here: https://smilebooksproject.org/about/ . Her and Bob started the books to “…give a voice to children facing terrible illnesses”. She was very respectful, and did not push, but asked us to email her if we were interested in having Jackson’s story memorialized in a Children’s book.  Shawna and I realized that this would be a good way to help many of Jackson’s friends, so we agreed.  Months went by and Sarah interviewed many, many of the people in Jackson’s life to get his story from all angles. She was even able to interview Jackson before he died.  We finally met back up with Sarah and her incredibly talented illustrator, Bob Kelly.  It was at a Starbucks just before Halloween.  They brought us a poster of the cover shown in the picture.

At our meeting, I learned that Jackson will be the 40th child that they have memorialized in a book.  More of the stories can be found here: https://smilebooksproject.org/projects/smile-books-stories/.  I also learned that the books cost 12 dollars and they are pretty sure that the publisher is losing money on every book.  I also learned that Sarah and Bob take zero money from the book sales. They work solely on sponsorships and donations. 

It was very inspiring and helped me to realize that it was important to memorialize Jackson. Not because his death at 11 years old was sadder or more tragic than everyone else’s. We must memorialize Jackson because he was a great person and our family is in the unique position to help our community. What I am starting to realize is – our community is ALL WE HAVE.  I am only truly happy when I am helping others. I have seen the good side of so many people over the last 6 months.  I wish everyone could see the size of the hearts in their neighbors like I have. Many are people that never let anyone know of their kindness.

Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president, had four sons.  ONLY ONE made it adulthood.  One. He buried a 3-year-old son and an 11 year old son.  Tad died after Lincoln was assassinated at age 18.  Robert Todd Lincoln, his oldest son, lived to be 82 years old.

Now, my first reaction to that is – one of the greatest people in history experienced what I am going through – TWICE – why can’t I just pick myself up by the bootstraps and move on?  But the other amazing part is his 82-year-old son, Robert.  What pain he must have felt. It could have been easy for him to crawl in a hole.  He became a successful lawyer, president of a car company and had 3 children. They named a sea in the artic after him, The Lincoln Sea.

I have not seen or read the Children’s book. It will be a surprise to all of us.  But I know that it contains a piece of a boy - that I am realizing - deserves to be memorialized.  Jackson McClure was a great person, and we will use this story to share that message.  And we will use the proceeds from this book to help our community like all of you have helped us.

We have started the Jackson McClure Memorial Fund. 100% of the proceeds from this book will go to that cause.  You can purchase the book here: https://smilebooksproject.org/jackson-the-real-mvp/

Thank you.

Doug, Shawna, Saint Jackson, Evan and Kelsey