BROTHERLY LOVE

There are few things more shattering than the sudden death of a small child. It’s a parent’s worst nightmare; one many never fully recover from. But young siblings also suffer mightily, their confusion and fear often forgotten in the vortex of the grown-ups’ grief.

This is the backdrop of Brotherly Love, a sweet tribute by Dalton Giesick to his little brother, Dayton, who died at age 4. Giesick, now in his early 20s, was only 8 when his brother was whisked off by a Life Flight helicopter one night in 1998 as his mother wept and emergency workers rushed in and out of his house. The image of a scared little boy sitting alone on the stairs as his brother is being taken away is chilling and heartbreaking. Seen through the eyes of a doting 8-year-old big brother, most of the book is a preamble to that fateful night as it chronicles the happy events in the last year and a half the boys have together: a move from Kansas to Colorado, building a fort with their grandfather, trick-or-treating. The normalcy is painful, as readers know what’s coming.

Giesick writes in the voice of the boy he once was. It mostly works in foreshadowing a childhood soon to be altered. But since at that age he probably was not privy to all the adult happenings around him, the device leaves enormous gaps in the story. What did his brother die from? Had he been sick before? How much did his parents know? How did their marriage fare afterward?

Giesick’s book is written more than a decade after his brother died. A final chapter or epilogue is needed to explain what happened to the family after Dayton died and how it changed his own life as he grew into a young adult. Without any closure, the book feels incomplete and fails to fully develop into what could have been a much richer story of the brother left behind.Also available in hardcover and ebook.

"When Dayton was hammering the staples into the wood, Grandpa cut a window on each end. Then he made a door for us... Our clubhouse was fin."

Dalton Giesick's short memoir Brotherly Love depicts the author's e'rly childhood years, being the all too brief moment in time that he was able to spend with his little brother, Dayton. The book describes those early years in a fleeting but endearing way. At the center of the story is the family's relocation to Colorado, the boys' moving in with their grandparents during that short duration, and the heart-wrenching changes the family endures once they have moved out West.

Part coming of age story and part eulogy, Giesick's treatment of his subject is heart-felt and gentle. His book is a sweet and tender read and the author's presentation of his memories of Dayton is much in tune with how an adult would treat a young child. A quick, yet powerful read, Giesick's writing is strong and tight. There are foreboding moments embedded throughout the story alluding to Dayton's disappearance; however, this tragedy occurs at the end of the story where the author's dreadful imaginings become his harsh reality. Although anticipated, the last revelation is both unexpected to the narrator and reader.

A tribute to a little boy with a large heart and an even bigger soul, Brotherly Love is a big brother's beautiful telling of the precious and too brief an instant he spent in the company of his little brother. Although short, the time that the author spent with Dayton was deeply transformative for himself, and by telling his story the author was able to provide this transformation for his readers.