With new book, Mike Cope looks to make sense of daughter’s death
The Abilene Reporter-News in Texas reports:
The first time Mike Cope tried to write about his daughter Megan, he couldn’t completely commit himself to the project.
Megan, a vibrant but mentally disabled girl, spent the last four years of her life in a “medically fragile” state before dying of pneumonia in 1994 at age 10.
Cope, a former minister at Highland Church of Christ, felt the need to make sense of the senseless loss of life.
So he wrote. But he did it tentatively, tiptoeing around his feelings of grief, as if afraid to disturb Megan’s memory.
“When I thought I’d finished the book and sent it to some readers, they send this feedback: You’ve got to dip back into the loss,” Cope said via email. “I think I’d tried to write it without being immersed again in old, familiar grief.”
Read the full story. In the 2010 video below, Cope talks about Megan.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nS2DSnDqks
-
FeedbackThanks Mike Cope for such a brief but powerful inspirational note. What a focus we all have missed in this society! I plan to get your book….because I need more.Linn CarterJune, 6 2011Mr. Cope, your video was very touching about Megan and her positive
self identity. One thought is missing however. Perhaps Megan was a gift from God to better teach you the value of her precious life.
She was perfect in her own way. Perfect in God’s eyes.Judy HillJune, 6 2011Dear Mike,
What a beautiful human Megan was! Thanks for sharing her story. My wife has spent her career teaching, loving, and caring for God’s children who come with extra challenges. Through her work I’ve been blessed to know many of them. They do indeed have a place in the world. They will teach us much if only we are willing to listen.
You will not remember me, but we attended Harding Guaduate School at the same time. Our paths have diverged, but you blessed my day with Megan’s story. Many thanks.
Blessings,
Orion MitchellOrion MitchellJune, 7 2011
