When I consider the hardships that some must face, my troubles seem foolish and petty—a succession of quixotic battles. To God, perhaps, they are all windmills.
THE LOCKET
THE CHRISTMAS BOXWAS released by Simon & Schuster in hardcover on October 11. Within a few weeks it hit America’s major bestseller lists, including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and USA Today.
In early November I arrived in Atlanta and was picked up by a media escort named Lynda. She was attractive and congenial. She commented that she had purchased a dozen copies of my book. This surprised me as she had earlier mentioned that she was Jewish.
“Do you often buy Christmas books?” I asked.
She smiled at the question. “No. But there’s something special about your book.”
“There is,” I said. “Watch what happens today. People will come to my book signing and they won’t know why. After I talk to them they’ll tell me that they’ve just lost a child.”
I don’t know if she believed me. My first signing that day was at a Sam’s Club. We had been there for only a few minutes when a woman wandered up to my table.
“Would you like a book?” I asked.
“No, I guess not. Actually I need something for my sister. She just lost her child.”
I talked with the woman for a while and I signed a copy of the book for her sister.
After she left, Lynda said, “That’s amazing.” A few hours later we dropped by a mall for a “drive-by signing.” (That’s when you sign the store’s stock of your book and meet the bookstore personnel, but avoid the public.) As I signed the last of my books on the front shelf a woman walked up behind me.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Signing my book.”
“What book is it?”
I held out a copy. “The Christmas Box.”
Lynda, being a dutiful escort, quickly said, “Would you like a copy?”
“No, thank you,” she said. “Actually, I’ve been walking the mall for a couple of hours looking for something for my friend. Her little boy was just killed.”
I spoke with the woman for a few minutes and she walked away with a book. As we left the store Lynda turned to me.
“Does this really follow you everywhere you go?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t think I would have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. There’s no explanation for it.”
“I think there is,” I said. “I think God loves his children and he has a lot of children that need to be healed.”
At another book signing, in Las Vegas, I told the young woman helping me at the table about the phenomenon. Within the hour a woman approached us. “Will this book help someone who has just lost a child?”
I told her about my book and she purchased a copy. After the woman left, the young bookstore employee eyed me curiously, then asked, “Are you real?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, are you a real person? Or are you really an angel?”
I smiled. “No, I’m real.”
She still looked at me peculiarly.
“Really,” I said, “you can ask my wife.”
•
In many respects my second book tour was more difficult than my first. I was the media flavor of the week. Time, Newsweek, USA Today, Ladies’ Home Journal, Good Housekeeping, the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and hundreds of other publications had all called for interviews or sent reporters. My publicist had a four-inch stack of media requests on her desk. I was constantly on the road, and even when I was home I was not left alone. During one brief stop in Utah I kissed Jenna good night, then told her I would be leaving again early in the morning. Her eyes watered.
“Dad,” she said, “why did you write a book about spending time with your children and now you’re leaving again?”
All I could do was hold her.
Dear Richard,
At the request of my wife, I have just finished reading The Christmas Box. She said it would help me to further appreciate my two-and-a-half-year-old son, Dave.
I do not think I have ever been so moved by any book or movie as I was by your story.
Toward the end, like Mary, I was in tears. The pages of the book are still moist. My work career takes me out of town often and when I was gone last week, it was particularly painful. I walked into my house, grabbed my wife, Denise, and my son and cried for ten minutes.
I wanted to tell you how much I loved your book. It has helped open my eyes. Your book strengthens my resolve to be at home with my family.
Please give our regards to your family.
All the best,
Dennis
