Houston child honors an angel with her writing debut

Zoey Hess never wanted the long afternoons cuddled with her granddad in the big blue La-Z-Boy to end. Together they read stories, watched movies and played games. When those hours inevitably did end, Zoey never wanted her "Papa" to leave. But, of course, the time for leaving came as well.

Zoey was only 5 when her beloved grandfather, Houston physician Morton Adels ,died at age 77 in March 2010. Zoey coped as well as she could.

On the second anniversary of Adels' death, though, a most remarkable thing occurred.

Zoey found her mother tearfully praying as she lit a candle in the family's Meyerland home.

"I didn't understand it. I didn't like seeing my mother so sad," said Zoey. After her mother explained the Jewish tradition of Yahrzeit, in which the departed are honored with a lighted candle on the date of their death, Zoey responded, "Can't you look at this in a happier way? Why can't we call today the birthday of an angel?"

Zoey startled her parents, Kelly and Clive Hess, with her wisdom.

Now, Zoey has crystallized her epiphany in a 24-page illustrated children's book, "The Birthday of an Angel," an event that marks the 11-year-old Shlenker Elementary fifth grader's debut as an author and constitutes a first step in what she hopes will be a life of helping others.

As she prepared for the opening of a whirlwind promotional campaign, beginning with a May 14 appearance at her school's Wolff-Toomim Social Hall, Zoey grew reflective when asked what she hopes her new writing career might accomplish.

"When my grandpa passed away, lots of people gave me tons of books to read," she said. "But when I finished them, I didn't get a good feeling. … Over time, I was ready to tell my story and try to help more people. When they finish reading, they should have a good feeling, feel that their relationship with their 'angel' didn't stop. Their angel is still watching over them, even if they're not in this world."

Such thoughts led her mother, an executive in the family's electronics recycling business, to observe that "Zoey is an old soul."

Zoey began her book last summer, first capturing her thoughts longhand in a journal, then transferring them via laptop computer. Her choice of writing venue was the granite-topped island in the family kitchen.

"Sometimes I had a hard time trying to find the word to really express what I meant," she said. " Mostly, though, it really flowed. I wanted to have the things I remembered about him in one place, the whole story of the candle in another place. It definitely took a lot of time. I definitely had to work it out through a process."

Warm relationship

Kelly Hess recalled her father's relationship with Zoey and Zoey's younger sister, Juliette, was remarkably warm.

"He delivered 4,000 babies in his career," she said, "... but he wasn't much of a baby holder. As soon as Zoey learned to walk, though, she would go right to him with her hands out. They'd sit together in a big La-Z-Boy chair. She'd be right on him. There was some type of bond that is actually hard to describe."

Adels, his daughter remembered, always was full of surprises - and eloquent quotes. On one occasion, he gave Zoey a framed collection of U.S. Postal Service "Love" stamps for her birthday. Three years after his death, Hess removed the framed stamps from the wall to remind Zoey of the gift's specialness and for the first time discovered an envelop attached to the back.

Inside was Adels' message to his granddaughter: "Dear Pretty Girl: Love … not time … heals all wounds."

Zoey said she felt an on-going communication with her grandfather as she wrote her book. At one point, she audibly advised him of the work-in-progress. He communicated, too, she said, through the appearances of cardinals - the first spotted outside her window on the day he died - that reminded her that "Papa" was still present even though he physically was not.

Book is a first

Zoey's publisher, Melissa Williams of Long Tale Publishing, said "The Birthday of an Angel" is her company's first child-written book for children.

"We support the literary efforts of children who are not only creative in their work but also who have written a story for the greater good of other kids her age," said Williams, a children's author and founder of the Read 3 Zeroes, a literacy group which annually publishes an anthology of elementary and secondary students' writings.

"The loss of grandparents, to many adults, is just a part of life. To kids, this is possibly the most traumatic and confusing experience of their lives. Zoey put such a positive spin on it that you couldn't help but read the book and have a happy feeling."