PLATTEVILLE, Feb. 18 — A eulogy might seem unlikely inspiration for a children’s book.

But the eulogy from a former Platteville Middle School counselor for her father inspired suggestions to turn that eulogy into a book for children dealing with deaths of people in their lives.

Just Follow My Light will be released Thursday by Innovative Ink Publishing. A launch party will be held at the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium in Dubuque Friday.

Kate Lange, a PMS counselor from 2023 to 2025 who now is a counselor at a Dubuque elementary school, gave the eulogy for her father, Terry Gross, after his death from cancer in April 2024.

“I have big dreams for this book,” said Lange. “I wrote it as a love letter to my dad, and as a way of helping my own three children and niece and nephew understand and make some sense of the death of their beloved papa. My hope now is to share it with the world.”

Gross taught in Dubuque-area public and parochial schools before he retired in 2018.

“My dad was incredibly gentle, patient, wise, and kind,” said Lange. “These qualities made him a great teacher, husband, father, and friend. He was incredibly generous, especially with his time. When COVID hit, he scaled way back on his hours at the river museum where he worked when he retired from teaching so that he could teach my older two kids on their virtual days when learning was hybrid for most of the school year. He even did special bonus lessons like teaching them how to use a combination lock so they would be ready for middle school someday.”

Gross entered hospice with stage 4 renal cancer two years ago.

“Even when he was incredibly sick, he never complained,” said Lange. “Actually, the first thing he said to me in the oncologist's office after finding out he probably had less than 6 months to live was ‘I'm sorry.’ He didn't ever want to cause anyone pain or sadness, even in his death. 

“As a former educator of 43 years, he put on his teacher/planner hat one last time and planned out his entire funeral. In making these plans, he asked me to deliver the eulogy at his funeral.

“As I struggled to find the right words, I ultimately wrote his eulogy as a children's story, as I grew up with my dad telling me countless stories. I wrote the majority of the story in the weeks before he passed, told it to him while holding his hand the day he died, and finished it later that same evening.

“After the funeral, I had several attendees approach and suggest I turn the eulogy into a children's book.”

Just Follow My Light is the story of five fireflies that gather inside their lantern home waiting for Papa Firefly to lead them on a new adventure. They travel through a forest following Papa’s glowing light until it suddenly goes out.

Innovative Ink describes Just Follow My Light as reminding “young readers that the people we love never truly leave us when we carry their light in our hearts and keep spreading it to others.”

Lange worked with a writing coach for a year and a half to adapt the eulogy into a story and her first book.

“I've always loved writing and actually started out the first half of my college career as a journalism major,” she said. “Writing a book has always been a dream of mine, but I wasn't sure what I wanted to write about. This one was incredibly easy to write because it poured right from my heart onto the pages … even the rewrite I did in one sitting.”

Bethan Thomas provided the illustrations.

“As an educator for the past 18 years, I have had a front-row seat to the grief children experience when a loss occurs, and have also seen adults struggle to talk to their children about such a difficult topic,” said Lange. “I want to get the book into hospice programs, hospitals, churches, schools, and ultimately just families who are walking a path of grief and are looking for a little bit of hope and light.”

Just Follow My Light is available for preorder on Amazon and will be available for purchase on Amazon and www.innovativeinkpublishing.com Thursday.