What I hold in my hands is not just a book. It's a promise kept. About a year before my dad passed away, he made me promise that I would write a book about his father, my grandfather.

I must have written that first chapter half a dozen times, but nothing ever felt right. The words just wouldn’t come together.

Before I could even complete that first chapter, my dad was gone. In the weight of the loss, I set the project aside. For reasons I can’t fully explain, I simply couldn’t bring myself t...  more