My grandmother was born Sarah June on June 14, 1914. She always wanted to be a writer but she told me that the 1930s and 40s were not the best times for aspiring women authors. She married my grandfather in 1937 and on January 23, 1940 she went into premature labor with twin girls. The first, Jacqueline Ann, was stillborn; the second, Geraldine Doris, lived about 48 hours. The twins were buried and never spoken about.
In my teenage years, my grandmother showed me a genealogy book of our family. When I saw the twins’ names, I asked my grandmother who these girls were. She proceeded to tell me that they were her twin daughters that died. That is all my grandmother ever told me. My grandmother died in 1997, I was 19 years old.
My name is Kimberly Mowery. I am a 45 year old widow and mother of seven (three step-children and four biological). The first three children my husband and I had together were sons, our fourth, a daughter. I named her Sarah June, after my grandmother. In 2005, sixteen months after her birth she was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor. After two-and-a-half years of surgeries and hospital stays my daughter passed away in the arms of my husband and myself. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to endure in my life. In the first few years after her death, I realized what my grandmother went through in 1940. She lost her FIRST TWO children. The difference was, in 1940 when your child(ren) died you did NOT speak of it. You buried your children and you never talked about them.
Early in 2014 I wanted to find the burial site for the twins my grandmother had lost. My grandparents had lived in Ohio at that time. I found a large graveyard near the home they lived in, then I made a phone call. The woman checked the records and indeed the twins were buried there. I asked the woman if she would email me a picture of the gravestone. She said she would. Several hours later I received a phone call. She apologized and said, “I’m sorry but there is no grave marker for the twins.” My heart sank. My grandmother was financially able to mark their grave, I know that, so my heart wonders if the grief was so great she could not bear to acknowledge that they even existed.
In March of 2014 my husband and I traveled to Ohio and paid for a foundation for a gravestone. While we were there we did a little research. I was totally in awe when I found out the exact dates of their death. Jacqueline died January 23rd… Geraldine died January 25th … my daughter Sarah who was named after their mother, died right between them, January 24th. There is no such thing as coincidence, only divine intervention.
I’ve always wanted to write a novel based on my grandmother’s life. I wanted to somehow re-write her life, enabling her to grieve the loss of her daughters, and I could do that because I know what it is like to lose a child. Over and over I tried to write, but nothing. In August of 2018 my husband and I traveled back to Ohio and had a small grave stone set. After 78 years twins, Jacqueline and Geraldine finally have been recognized. Not long after my visit to Ohio, I sensed that God was asking me why I would want to "bring my grandmother back to earth" to relive the LOSS of these girls. Instead, I sensed I should write a series of biblically based children’s books bringing the twins to LIFE, in heaven. YES, these girls are very much alive (in heaven and in my stories), and although my grandmother was never a published author, I KNOW her healed heart is totally in the midst of this project. I couldn’t be more amazed at how God can take the tragic deaths of three little baby girls generations apart, and turn it into a blessing for many. Now, when you read the first book you can appreciate the girls even more.
In my teenage years, my grandmother showed me a genealogy book of our family. When I saw the twins’ names, I asked my grandmother who these girls were. She proceeded to tell me that they were her twin daughters that died. That is all my grandmother ever told me. My grandmother died in 1997, I was 19 years old.
My name is Kimberly Mowery. I am a 45 year old widow and mother of seven (three step-children and four biological). The first three children my husband and I had together were sons, our fourth, a daughter. I named her Sarah June, after my grandmother. In 2005, sixteen months after her birth she was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor. After two-and-a-half years of surgeries and hospital stays my daughter passed away in the arms of my husband and myself. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to endure in my life. In the first few years after her death, I realized what my grandmother went through in 1940. She lost her FIRST TWO children. The difference was, in 1940 when your child(ren) died you did NOT speak of it. You buried your children and you never talked about them.
Early in 2014 I wanted to find the burial site for the twins my grandmother had lost. My grandparents had lived in Ohio at that time. I found a large graveyard near the home they lived in, then I made a phone call. The woman checked the records and indeed the twins were buried there. I asked the woman if she would email me a picture of the gravestone. She said she would. Several hours later I received a phone call. She apologized and said, “I’m sorry but there is no grave marker for the twins.” My heart sank. My grandmother was financially able to mark their grave, I know that, so my heart wonders if the grief was so great she could not bear to acknowledge that they even existed.
In March of 2014 my husband and I traveled to Ohio and paid for a foundation for a gravestone. While we were there we did a little research. I was totally in awe when I found out the exact dates of their death. Jacqueline died January 23rd… Geraldine died January 25th … my daughter Sarah who was named after their mother, died right between them, January 24th. There is no such thing as coincidence, only divine intervention.
I’ve always wanted to write a novel based on my grandmother’s life. I wanted to somehow re-write her life, enabling her to grieve the loss of her daughters, and I could do that because I know what it is like to lose a child. Over and over I tried to write, but nothing. In August of 2018 my husband and I traveled back to Ohio and had a small grave stone set. After 78 years twins, Jacqueline and Geraldine finally have been recognized. Not long after my visit to Ohio, I sensed that God was asking me why I would want to "bring my grandmother back to earth" to relive the LOSS of these girls. Instead, I sensed I should write a series of biblically based children’s books bringing the twins to LIFE, in heaven. YES, these girls are very much alive (in heaven and in my stories), and although my grandmother was never a published author, I KNOW her healed heart is totally in the midst of this project. I couldn’t be more amazed at how God can take the tragic deaths of three little baby girls generations apart, and turn it into a blessing for many. Now, when you read the first book you can appreciate the girls even more.