Journal for Jordan
Tara Kloeppel
Issue date: 2/9/09 Section: News
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Three of the most important lessons learned from "A Journal for Jordan: A Story of Love and Honor" are: it is important to work hard, pay your bills and it's OK for men to cry - at least according to Crosby Kemper III, executive director of the Kansas City Library.
Last Wednesday, Kemper introduced Dana Canedy, author of "A Journal for Jordan," Pulitzer Prize winner and an editor at the New York Times, to a small audience gathered at the Plaza Branch library.
After giving the audience the usual brief biography of the featured author, Kemper made good on his earlier statement.
As he delved into the heart-wrenching synopsis of "Journal" tears welled in his eyes as he strained to whisper, "[Journal for Jordan] is an extraordinary story about a family who was never together, but pulled it together."
"Journal" is partly a 200-page collection of journal entries written by the late First Sergeant Charles Monroe King for his son, and partly an integral step in one woman's healing process due to the loss of her fiancé.
King was killed in Iraq in October 2006 when an improvised explosive device exploded beneath his Humvee.
His son, Jordan, was only seven months old.
Prior to King's deployment to Iraq, Canedy gave her fiancé the journal.
Canedy said, "He was spending all his time on his journal, and then he took it to Iraq."
King shocked Canedy when he returned later having completely filled the journal with life lessons, advice and prayers for the couple's young son.
She described the three most common themes found in the King's journal entries as, "God and prayer, an incredibly profound respect for women and using the lessons he learned in the war as opportunities to speak about dignity and character."
Even though King only got to meet his son once while on leave, he has left a piece of himself behind in the form of his journal.
"[Charles] made sure his son would have his guiding hand," said Canedy.
When reflecting on the importance of the journal, Canedy said, "He completed the journal a month before he went back to Iraq [while on leave]. He was preparing for Jordan's life and his own death."
Interlaced with King's journal entries are stories and anecdotes written by Canedy describing the couple's eight-year on-and-off-again relationship - including where the couple met, why they didn't get married and their shared hopes and dreams for the future.
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