THE BEAUTY OF LOVE

A stirring account of New York Yankees star Posada's family's struggle with their child's difficult condition, craniosynostosis.

This is a lovely story of terrible circumstance, told by Jorge and his wife, Laura, and the authors bring a respectable polish to their honest storytelling, despite some heavy-handed sentiment and a few goofy puns: “I knew deep down that if I played my cards right, she could very well become the greatest catch of my life.” Their son Jorge Jr. came as a bit of a surprise, and the immediacy of his medical condition—a life-threatening skull deformity—hit the authors hard. In alternating voices, the Posadas write with a natural economy and immediacy of emotion: “How could I not imagine that he was going to die? It crossed my mind that this might be the last time I would ever get to put my son to sleep,” writes his mother as her nine-month-old son is readied for surgery. “Was he in pain? Was he suffering? Would he always suffer?” asks his father. These were a couple of type-A achievers who had to manage their self-involvement, irritability, exhaustion, depression and embarrassment, and find a way to patience, perseverance, fortitude and confidence. Ultimately, all those traditional virtues paid dividends. The Posadas turned their suffering into initiative, starting an advocacy group to bring help to those with craniosynostosis, funding research and offering critical support to families.

A syrupy yet heartwarming tale of roiling emotions and the power of love.