The Council of Dads

Most of us, if we know Bruce Feilor, know him as the guy who walks across the holy lands (WALKING THE BIBLE, etc.). What most of us didn't know was that a couple years back he was diagnosed with a devastating bone cancer, was married with two-year old twins, and had hoped to see them grow up.

Fearing that the girls might grow up without their father, he invited six male acquaintances, each representing some aspect of himself, to engage with the girls and be in their lives as they grew. This book is the story of how he chose each man and what those potential surrogate dads meant to him as he also chronicles "the lost year," the year he spent in chemotherapy, recovery from surgery and other medical issues.

It seems cold to say that I enjoyed the book -- how can one enjoy seeing the suffering of a family -- but the tale was, in fact, riveting. To face one's death with a solution of such uniqueness, and to be so thoughtful in going about one's living while possibly dying, is not an easy task. This book was written with depth and caring about what this one father might leave for the daughters he so much wanted to help raise. In that sense, I enjoyed the book tremendously.