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Jantsen's Gift: A True Story of Grief, Rescue, and Grace [NOOK Book]
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For Cope, life in her small Missouri town seemed perfect; she ran a hair salon, enjoyed a happy family life and lived in a beautiful home. Yet, she explains, "I have to say, I put on a hell of a performance. For a long time, I even had myself convinced of how good and right everything was in my life." Her ideal was shattered in 1999 when Jantsen, her 15-year-old son, died suddenly from a heart ailment; this moving memoir recounts Cope's transformation and growth after her world collapsed. Her metamorphosis began after she accepted an invitation from a friend to visit Vietnam. Though Cope was wrapped in personal grief following the death of her son, the trip illuminated for her the superficial environment she inhabited. After visiting a local orphanage, Cope found for the first time in her life a sense of "wholeness and purpose." Soon she stepped outside her own circumscribed world and began creating better lives for the abused, neglected and at-risk children she encountered, first in Vietnam then in Cambodia and Ghana. This is a wonderful story of a woman whose personal tragedy gave birth to a gift and how she fulfilled that legacy to make the world a better place. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.WinterWitch
Posted November 10, 2009
Jantsen's Gift is the best book I've read in a long time. The author Pam Cope and her story of heartache and healing is a story worth reading. This book is worth every penny paid. Jantsen's Gift is well written with Aimee Molloy and you can't help but empathize with the Cope family.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.This novel touched me so deeply, and when I finished I had "that feeling" in my chest. The feeling of completeness and hope and a bit of yearning for more.
Pam Cope was a woman that those on the outside thought had it all. She grew up in a wonderful family, married a wonderful man, and had wonderful children -a boy and a girl-one adopted. However, on the inside she always felt like her life wasn't complete. She could never quite place it, and felt guilty that her "perfect" life wasn't enough.
Fast forward several years and perfection turns to tragedy. Pam's son Jantsen dies suddenly from an unrealized heart defect. This part of the novel is told with such clarity and reflection of the incidence that I sobbed. I felt my heart breaking while reading it. I am not exaggerating when I say it made me feel like my heart was ripped to shreds. When she spoke of her depression and not wanting to go on I was feeling it with her while reading.
Unable to cope with the loss of her son over the holidays Pam decided to travel to Vietnam. She had been interested since friends had adopted a child from the country and thought it would be a chance to get away from the sadness. She also had money from a trust set up after Jantsen's death that she wanted to donate to a worthy cause and thought this might be it. Pam, her husband Randy and her daughter Crista made the trip that changed their lives in November 2000.
This trip to Vietnam changed the Cope family forever. In this trip Pam found the piece of herself that had been missing and the family found a son to bring home and love.
The rest of the novel focuses on the family's different journeys to improve the lives of children in other countries. They travel to Vietnam, Cambodia, and Ghana. They develop homes, education centers,medical treatment and safety for hundreds of children. Children sold into slavery, children orphaned by poverty and illness, and children who feel life has nothing to offer them. It is a touching story of what faith and asking for help can do. They adopt another daughter along the way and many friends become involved in the foundation they developed and others adopt children.
Each chapter after Jantsen's death begins with a short letter to him from Pam. As the novel progresses you can see the growth she has gone through. You don't see the sadness completely leave and she never stops loving or missing him, but she picks herself back up and lives again through his memory.
This isn't to suggest that the trip to Vietnam took away all the depression and longing for her son. This was a long process. It involved a hospitalization for her depression, and a confrontation with her faith. In this novel, Pam Cope realizes that although she has attended and been active in church she has never really known God and begins an actual relationship with him. Her faith in God led her through many difficult through many difficult days.
Jantsen's Gift tells of Pam's life, but it also provides facts about the lives of the children she is helping and the states of their countries. It was very educational.
I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone and everyone. Warning: when you are done reading you will begin to question what you are doing in your life to help the less fortunate. You may even want to start planning your first trip abroad.
For more information on Pam's foundation Touch A Life please visit www.touchalifekids.org
shelseker
Posted June 6, 2009
This book had a powerful effect on me. It illustrates what one plain, ordinary person can do when they just get up and go after an idea or a dream. Pam Cope and her family did not simply donate their son's memorial money to some organization that did good things; they went out and saved children themselves. I was absolutely awed and impressed at their willingness to go and experience for themselves what is happening in Vietnam, Ghana, and Cambodia. I did not know about these atrocities, so the book was a real eye-opener for me. Their son Jantsen would be so proud of them and what they have done as a memorial to him and his life.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.KerryDawn
Posted June 2, 2009
A beautifully written book by two amazing women! Pam and her family have survived a personal tragedy and managed to change the destiny of many impoverished children worldwide. I read the entire book in one sitting on a flight to CA from NY- laughing & crying the entire way- completely immersed in their story. THANK YOU, Pam for sharing those moments with your readers & inspiring me!
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Posted May 15, 2009
A riveting story that will bring you courage and peace.
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Overview
Nine years ago, Pam Cope owned a cozy hair salon in the tiny town of Neosho, Missouri, and her life revolved around her son's baseball games, her daughter's dance lessons, and family trips to places like Disney World. She had never been out of the country, nor had she any desire to travel far from home.Then, on June 16th, 1999, her life changed forever with the death of her 15-year-old son from an undiagnosed heart ailment.
Needing to get as far away as possible from everything that reminded her of her loss, she accepted a friend's invitation to travel to Vietnam, and, from the ...