The Renfrow Story

Saturday morning I had the incredibly joy and blessing of delivering the first copies of the book to Edith and her daughter, Alice. We had arrived early and were waiting in the small room at her Brookdale Senior Living facility. My mind was full of all the things that you can imagine in such a moment. It’s been less than a year since I took this project from a fleeting idea and launched it in earnest. In so many ways it was simply remarkable that we had made it to this day.

From the beginning I had two goals. First, I desperately wanted to get the book done while she was still with us. She was 108 years and 6 months old when I started. Every day had to count and I could not take anything for granted. Seeing her look through the book for the first time, her beautiful hands going over each page and each detail, knowing that this goal had been met filled me with incredible joy.

My second goal was to honor her story and tell it as accurately as I possibly could, not an easy task given my own life and experience has been so vastly different from hers. That’s why one of my first steps was to read the draft text to her and make sure she liked the way her story was being told. I will always remember getting her blessing that day last March, hearing her affirmation to me, “you were the one who was meant to do it.” Those words have been a touchstone as I’ve pushed through the moments I felt I was in over my head.

The monumental challenge in all of this was how to get the book illustrated and compiled given the timeline, the budget, and the miles between me and the key players. If time and money had been unlimited, the illustrator, Erica, and I would have moved to Chicago for a few months so we could visit Edith every day to go over the details of each illustration. But of course we didn’t have that luxury. So there are details that aren’t quite right: the washtub, the socks, the part in her hair, the dining table chairs. You get the idea. Details that she sees and knows. And of course I wish that wasn’t the case, but given the limitations we had, the essentials of the story are illustrated in beautiful and compelling pages that will engage readers young and old. And she sees that as well. And she is deeply appreciative.

The essence of the story, the power of the message, the fact of a book she can hold in her hands, those things are all true and wonderful accomplishments. Her story and her powerful message of affirmation can now be shared and that is something we celebrate together. Just before our time together ended she told me how incredibly happy it makes her to know that this message will live on. “That is the most important thing,” she said.

This has been an incredible journey. I have shared from the beginning that I believed something beyond me was directing this process. I was walking by faith because I had no experience or expertise when I started this project. Edith and I share a Christian faith lived through the Methodist tradition, where grace manifests in a life of purpose, inviting us and guiding us to go where we can be used, encouraging us to trust God will see us through when we have no idea what we’re doing. God’s grace blankets me when I fall short, which I always do. I offer what I can in return, not to receive recognition or reward, but because it is a response to the grace I have received.

This grace is the lens through which I live my life and is core to this project, as it is to all I do. I have had to lean on my faith to get me through every step of the way. And now, as the book is completed, I continue to lean on my faith, asking for grace for myself and offering grace to others. Grace to cover the shortcomings with understanding and acceptance of the challenges. Grace that sees all that is beautiful and offers thanks and gratitude. That is what I have received from Edith. And I pray it is what is offered by all who care so deeply about her and her story.

There are no words to describe the honor and blessing this project has been. And there are no words to describe the joy I have received in return.