TAYLOR'S GIFT (TODD AND TARA STORCH)

Story Description: 

 

Baker Publishing Group|April 1, 2013|Trade Paperback|ISBN: 978-0-8007-2241-8 

 

In March 2010, thirteen-year-old Taylor Storch’s life was tragically cut short by a skiing accident.  With only a few minutes to consider their options, her grieving family made the life-changing decision to donate her organs.  Knowing Taylor’s caring spirit, they were sure this was what she would have wanted.  Over the course of the next two years, Tara and Todd Storch connected with four of the five people who now live because of Taylor’s gift.  And through these encounters, the Storches have discovered unexpected blessings that are changing countless lives. 

 

Now Tara and Todd share their inspiring story, shining a light at the end of the tunnel for those enduring the suffering of losing a loved one.  Through the stories of the donor recipients, readers will discover hope in the midst of pain.  Honest with their struggles, the Storches show readers that life is a gift and our response to grief is a choice.  They also speak with a clear voice about the important and the blessing of being an organ donor, telling the inspiring story of the creation of Taylor’s Gift Foundation and its goals to raise awareness of the need for organ donation, to re-gift, renew health, and restore families.  They are changing the conversation around the globe that organ donation is not about death - it’s about life.  Foreword by Max Lucado. 

 

My Review: 

 

Thirteen-year-old Taylor Storch was killed in a snow skiing accident.  The really sad part is that it was Taylor’s last run of their very first day on the slopes.  As a parent myself, I couldn’t even begin to imagine what it would be like to suffer the loss of one of your children.  Life isn’t supposed to work that way – parents don’t bury their children. 

 

Taylor’s parents, Todd and Tara’s grief was all encompassing and each grieved in different ways.  At first, both Todd and Tara were like zombies just moving through each day as best they could.  Todd was eventually able to become more productive in his life caring for the couple’s other two children, making funeral arrangements, accepting callers at their door who had come to offer condolences or food and generally trying to keep one foot in front of the other. 

 

Tara, on the other hand, closed herself off from life and took to her bed for a year.  She just wasn’t able to function with any sense of normalcy at all, or even take the proper interest in her other two children.  Taylor’s death was just too much for her to bear. 

 

There is no right or wrong way to grieve and each person grieves at their own pace and in their own time.  What might take six months for one, might take five years for another.  Too often we hear people say “Oh, just get over it’s been a whole year.”  Don’t ever allow anyone to say that to you when you’re grieving.  Grief is a personal and individual thing. 

 

For Todd and Tara grief was difficult until they made the decision to donate Taylor’s organs and then things began to change.  They began to understand why they lost their daughter and why God had chosen to call her home at this time.  Taylor would have been so proud of the decision that her parents made on her behalf.  Luckily for Todd and Tara, they were eventually able to personally meet four out of the five donor-recipients of Taylor’s gifts!  In most cases this doesn’t happen but it did for this one very lucky family. 

 

Although it was a hard and sad story to read in parts, I was awed at the strength and fortitude that this family showed in setting up Taylor’s Gift Foundation to encourage other  people to sign up for organ donation so that other families can be saved like the five in this story. 

 

If you never do anything else when you finish reading this beautiful story, at least please consider and sign-up for organ donation and make your wishes known to doctor’s, family and friends.  Be an advocate for Taylor’s family and help them spread the word about organ donation.  If we each told just one person, we’d go a long, long way in keeping many family’s together. 

 

Thank you Todd and Tara for sharing your story with us.  I’ll never forget Taylor.

"Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. Available at your favourite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group".