Making Toast
Roger Rosenblatt
G DUCKWORTH
SUMMARY: When his daughter Amy collapsed and died at the age of thirty-eight from an undiagnosed heart condition, Roger Rosenblatt and his wife, Ginny, left their home on Long Island to move in with their son-in-law and their three young grandchildren. Reeling from Amy's death, they had to quickly re-accustom themselves to the world of bedtime stories, talking toys and non-stop questions, as they began to reconstruct their family, guiding six-year-old Jessica, four-year-old Sammy and one-year-old James through the pain and confusion of grief. Marvelling at the strength of his son-in-law, Harris, a surgeon, and the patience and skill of his wife, a former nursery school teacher, Roger attended each day to 'the one household duty I have mastered' - preparing the children's morning toast. With wit, warmth and insight, Roger Rosenblatt peels back the layers of this most personal of losses to create both a tribute to his late daughter and a moving testament to familial love.