I want to give you, the reader, a direct experience of the children I met and loved, but I cannot find a way to separate their journey from the intersection of time we shared together. Every time I hesitate, turn away, the children insistently call to me, pull at my hands. And I have no voice but my own to answer them. I do not understand what these fragments ask of me. I place them in your hands. Hold them gently.
“I highly recommend this book. I believe it should become a required reading for the medical professionals who take care of pediatric and adult patients with chronic conditions.” —Shafi Shafaieh, MD
Though I began my work at the University of Davis Medical Center as an evening volunteer storyteller, I later became a staff member, first as an arts program specialist and later as the child life director. Ironically, I came to this work without a medical background or even a background in child development. Instead, I experienced this environment as the parents and children experienced it–as another culture whose language and customs were foreign and often frightening. This perspective helped me shape many innovative art programs at a time when such programs were rare. The memoir’s structure includes narrative chapters and “portrait chapters” focused on individual children and my journey with them–a journey that continued even after I left my work in pediatrics.
An excerpt from Shards of Memory, read by Victoria L. Davis:
Praise for Shards of Memory
“For over 20 years, ArtsCare, created through the leadership of Victoria, has given countless patients, their families, and the healthcare staff the opportunity to engage in the healing potential of art and music, Serving as a musician with ArtsCare for over 13 years has given me the immensely rewarding experience of helping to cultivate a sense of calm presence, joyful creative exploration, and compassionate dignity, in often stressful healthcare settings. Deep gratitude to Victoria for continuing to promote and inspire pathways to healing by sharing this important and engaging narrative.”
—Dave Chiller, ArtsCare Musician
“Buckle up!! If you are a third-year medical student heading into a clerkship in pediatrics, a resident whose first rotation is to the pediatric inpatient unit, or a parent with a child currently in the hospital, this book is for you!
Victoria, a writer and champion of the arts, will introduce you to 13 unforgettable children on her 3-year journey into the world of ill and injured children. The children and families she worked with in the Child Life Program in our hospital are abruptly faced with new medical language, strange new sounds, new people, routines randomly interrupted—and pain, real physical pain. Because she not only talks with children, but more importantly listens to them—through the arts and craft materials she offers–she is able to focus on what each child brings not just what they say. Caring for injured children is good work, emotionally important hard work, and she found that eventually it is necessary to set it down, move on, replenish the soul. But her experiences with the children she never forgot are woven into her own life story.”
—Dr. Margaret S. Steward, Professor Emerita, Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of California, Davis
“In academic training, in medicine, the emphasis is usually on the ‘treatment’ not ‘healing.’ Skills like listening, looking into the eyes of the patients, and holding their hands are not stressed enough. Care of children with chronic incurable conditions requires special expertise. This beautifully written book, in which Victoria shares many stories about the children she worked with, is about the art of healing.
I highly recommend this book. I believe it should become a required reading for the medical professionals who take care of pediatric and adult patients with chronic conditions.”
—Shafi Shafaieh, MD (Surgeon)