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by Stephanie Struyck Elgin
No parent wants to experience the death of a child, but imagine facing the possibility of having to do it twice.
He was only five years old when Justin DeLong was diagnosed with leukemia in 1990. The bright-eyed energetic child battled cancer and went into remission for 10 years before losing his battle to cancer in July of 2000, just 12 days after his 15th birthday.
The DeLong family was left to pick up the pieces, constantly trying to find ways to muster the strength and the courage to move on and find joy in their lives without their beloved Justin. “I didn’t want to forget the memories,” states mother, Lisa Solis DeLong. “I just wanted to hang on to them.”
It’s a parent’s worst fear, but just six years after Justin’s passing, it happened again. Lisa’s youngest son, Jacob, age 6 had been diagnosed with leukemia, too.
And now Lisa tells her story of what it has been like to have two sons with leukemia, a lifetime a part, in Blood Brothers: A Memoir of Faith and Loss While Raising Two Sons with Cancer. The memoir documents her struggles to understand how God could allow this to happen, her search for a way to keep her marriage, her family and her own sanity together. The story of the two Blood Brothers will speak to your heart and allow you to see strength through unimaginable tragedies.
“I learned so much from my boys,” states Lisa. “I have always written in a journal, but after Jacob’s diagnosis, I knew I had a story to tell. I read a lot of memoirs and those were the stories that helped me, the true stories of grief and loss.”
After taking a writing class at College of the Canyons and UCLA Writer’s Extension, Lisa began writing what would be the first chapter of the memoir. “The whole writing process was therapeutic for me. It was very nourishing to be working on the memoir, and I felt very compelled to finish it,” states Lisa.
“After Justin’s death, I grieved, and while Jacob is well right now, it will be 11 years since Justin has passed. I can only hope that my story will help others and know they are not alone. In helping others, it gives my life and my loss a sense of purpose.”
You can meet Lisa at her book signing on Saturday, June 25 at Cobblestone Cottage in Valencia from 2 p.m. until 4 p.m. All proceeds from book sales will benefit the Michael Hoefflin Foundation.
For more information, or to purchase Blood Brothers, visit www.tatepublishing.com. The memoir will also be available on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and Target, beginning July 5.
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