The Danny Tompkins Stories
The Danny Tompkins stories explore the issue of teenage grief at the loss of a parent. Danny is thirteen when he learns his mother has entered the hospital for the last time, and she will die there. The six stories in the series show how Danny coped with the situation then, how it still affected him as an adult, and how he was able to overcome despite a number of associated negative factors. In each story, the adult Daniel writes a poem that addresses some aspect of his mom’s death, and of the aftermath.
Mom’s Letter:
Thirteen year old Danny Tompkins is at the end his first week of scout camp, waiting for his family to arrive to pick him up. They are very late. He wins a special award, but they aren’t there to see it. At last his dad arrives. On the drive home he learns his mom is much, much sicker than he realized. They are going straight to the hospital. Forty years later, Daniel Tompkins comes across a letter his mom wrote him while he was at camp. Seeing those words again releases memories of those tragic events. Available at the Kindle store (though with a different cover). And at the Smashwords store.
TOO OLD TO PLAY
Thirteen year old Danny Tompkins can’t believe the party that is going on at his house, right after his mother was buried. Drinks, smokes, wild laughter comes from the adults. The young cousins are in the yard playing. But for Danny there’s no place to hide. He’s too old to play, plus he doesn’t want to. Decades later the adult Daniel returns to his childhood home and relives the memories of those awful events, even “seeing” the participants from room to room. Visits to the graves follow. To fulfill an assignment in an adult education fine arts class, he writes a sonnet explaining the memories. Available here for Amazon Kindle and at the Smashwords store for other e-reader formats
KICKING STONES
Daniel Tompkins is attending a convention near his hometown. In some downtime he visits the old neighborhood, then decides to walk the mile to his old junior high school. As he does, he finds a stone on the sidewalk and kicks it on ahead. This brings back memories of how he kicked stones on those walks to school so many decades before. Memories of those days flood back, of how he dealt with his grief in the weeks immediately after his mother’s death. No counseling was given in those days, and he had to resume the routines of life, family, school, and activities almost as if nothing had happened. As he walks and kicks, he realizes that old practice was a form of grief relief for him.
Available from Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, and other retailers.
Saturday Haircuts, Tuesday Funeral
Danny Thompkins observes his dad in the days immediately following his mother’s death. He takes the boys to get haircuts, and behaves, what seems to Danny as a young teenager, to be too much levity in how his father deals with the barber.
Once again, the older Daniel Thompkins then looks back upon this time, decades after the event, and tries to interpret what was going on. He had come to think much of his dad and all that he went through, raising three teenagers as a single father. The memories help him deal with this as an adult.
Available from Amazon, Smashwords, and Barnes and Noble.
What Kept Her Alive?
Daniel Tompkins realizes the 50th anniversary of his mother’s death is approaching. A scene comes to his mind from his childhood, something he hasn’t thought of for years. His mom has returned from a long hospitalization, and his dad is helping her be reacquainted to the house. Daniel thinks about how much pain she must have been in, not only then but through the rest of her life as multiple physical problems hit her. What kept her alive, he wonders? In all the pain it would have been so easy to just give up. Daniel explores his memories of his mom, having a good remembrance of all she did.
“What Kept Her Alive?” is available at Amazon and Smashwords.
Growing Up Too Fast
Danny Tompkins, in the years following his mother’s death, learns what it is like being in the house in the evening and most of the night without an adult present. Facing much responsibility, Danny copes well, but misses out on a lot of typical teenage stuff. Years later, he looks back on those times and realizes just how rigorous they were. He wonders what it would have been like to date, to hang out with friends, to not spend every waking hour “being responsible.” It would have been nice to have found a little time when he could have been irresponsible—even just for an evening. The adult Daniel finds his life laden with responsibility, and muses about a time when he can lay his responsibilities aside. Thinking about that, he pens a most irresponsible poem, and debates whether to discard it or submit it for publication.
As with the other books in the series, Growing Up Too Fast is available as an e-book at Amazon and Smashwords.
WHEN DEATH CHANGES LIFE
All the 
Danny Tompkins stories are gathered together in this volume. Six stories, dealing with the different stages of teenage grief.
While this is fiction based on some real life experiences, it can be helpful to any teenager who is experiencing grief and wondering how it will all come out for him or her.
It is available as an e-book at Amazon (and print book) and Smashwords.