When pregnant with their second son, Daniel, Emily and David Miller were distraught to learn that he had a lethal form of dwarfism and would not survive past birth. They were able to find comfort through the group Angel Watch.
“Angel Watch really helped turn things around,” David said. “And one of the things that they said was that when they see these things happen, and I think this goes for any loss, any hard thing, they said, sometimes people can draw together and grow closer in their marriage and sometimes it can pull them apart.”
The Millers grew closer together, finding joy in the time they had. David began writing his thoughts on 3x5 cards he carried with him documenting his feelings.
“How can you keep that memory alive and honor their memory and choose again to be grateful, to be present and in the moment and find joy and hope and everything?” David asked. “And ultimately, those thoughts sort of turn into a poem.”
David’s book evolved from those poems and thoughts he wrote. Years later, the Millers decided to self-publish David’s book, titled "Twice as Well.”
“The whole book, premise of it is a child remembering a loved one who's passed away, in this case it's a sibling, and deciding to do everything in their life twice as well for that sibling to live a fuller life,” David said.
“I just hope people will share this message with people who might be hurting, who might benefit from hearing the message,” Emily said.
It is the Millers’ hope that the book can be in hospitals to give to parents and families who are going through the same loss they have experienced. The book can be found for free viewing on YouTube, narrated by their daughter, Ada. Physical copies can be ordered on Amazon.