I know I am one lucky woman. I have a wonderful husband, two healthy boys, and a roof over my head, oh and money to pay the bills. It is really easy to take it all for granted and forget about those that don’t have as much or anything at all. Sometimes it takes a tragedy for us to realize that there is something else out there meant for us and to really appreciate what we have.

Jantsen’s Gift is a memoir from Pam Cope about how her and her family’s lives changed when her 15 year old son, Jantsen, died of a undiagnosed heart condition. Not knowing how to recover and go on, Pam decides to accept an invitation to travel to Vietnam to visit an orphanage. Now Pam had never been out of the country before and her typical days revolved chauffeuring her children around. So Pam really was like most of us, I know I would never think of visiting Vietnam.

Pam and her husband, Randy, fall in love with a Vietnamese child and decide to adopt him. From then on, they adopt a Vietnamese girl and decide that they need to do as much as they can do help. Pam decided to shift her grief into something productive and try to help other children who need help. Pam has rescued over 200 kids and has since started “Touch A Life” which is an organization dedicated to helping at-risk children all over the world.

I cried during this book when I read about the conditions and experiences children from other countries have suffered through. I applaud Pam though for her strength and motivation to make a difference when she would probably love to curl up and cry for her own loss. Even though this book was sad and at times depressing, it is a powerful memoir and really showed that anyone can make a difference. I mean Pam was just a mom from Missouri and she has helped so many children already.

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