The Enterprise of Brockton, Mass.
www.enterprisenews.com
By Vicki-Ann Downing
ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
WAREHAM — Just in time for Father's Day, Gretchan Pyne of Wareham has published a second book capturing another special moment from the life of her daughter, Lulu, who was 4 years old when she died in 2001.
Pyne will sign copies of "Lulu Decorates Daddy" from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Borders bookstore in Braintree.
It is "another true story of how Lulu was able to transform her great big daddy who had woken up on the wrong side of the bed."
"It's a message to families to slow down and spend time with their children, and allow their children to move them and to touch them," Pyne said in a telephone interview last week.
The books are the Pyne family's way of spreading the message of their daughter, who was taken from them too soon.
Olivia Lynn Pyne, nicknamed "Lulu," died on July 14, 2001, under tragic circumstances.
After a day at the beach, the family had stopped at an ice cream stand in Wellfleet. Lulu climbed atop a bicycle rack to point out a double rainbow in the sky. The unsecured rack fell on her, crushing her chest and killing her instantly.
Looking on were her father, Dr. Warren Pyne, an Easton chiropractor and 1981 graduate of Brockton High School, Gretchan and Olivia's twin brothers, Dylon and Drew, now 16-year-old students at Wareham High School.
To help with their healing, Gretchan Pyne eventually reached out, writing a story about how Lulu once brightened a gray day by insisting her mother don a pair of rose-colored glasses and see the world in pink.
The result was "Lulu's Rose Colored Glasses," published in 2003, which has sold more than 40,000 copies. It was featured on "Good Morning America," in Ladies Home Journal and in newspapers across the country.
Like the first book, "Lulu Decorates Daddy" is self-published by the family in batches of 5,000 through Allegra Print and Imaging of Brockton. It will be sold for $12.95 and is illustrated by Mary Beth LaPiccolo of Middleboro.
"We do all of our own printing and promoting, because we're so passionate about Lulu's message, that love goes on and it's not the end," said Pyne.
A portion of the book's proceeds go to the Olivia Lynn Pyne Scholarship Fund at Dr. Pyne's alma mater, the Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa, which is also Gretchan's hometown.
The family has also established the Lulu Pyne Foundation of Hope to support "good causes that promote families and the well-being of families," said Pyne.
The fourth annual Lulu's Walk is being planned at the Cape Cod Canal in September to raise money for the YMCA and Boys and Girls Clubs.
Behind their Wareham home, the Pynes planted a garden in Lulu's memory and have built a cottage, Lulu's House of Hope. At 2 p.m. on June 22, families who have lost children will gather there for an afternoon of "inspiration and fellowship."
At 3:30, butterflies will be released in the garden.
Lulu's message is about children teaching their parents, Gretchan Pyne said — "waking up the world, one grownup at a time."
"We just know this is why Lulu was born and this is why she came to us," said Pyne. "It was her purpose in life."
For more information about Lulu's books, visit www.lulubellebooks.com.
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i went to a daycare when i was really little with "LuLu".
TheCoolKidzzz 2 years ago
I lost my daughter also and graduated from the same scholl as you. Palmer(1992).Nothing I can ever write will help in the slightest way but at least you know there are otheres out there like you. You seem like a kind hearted person who dedicated herself to her child. So hold on close to your memories but dont forget to make new ones.
John
jcpand 3 years ago
Hold on to all of those great memories, they will last a lifetime, and move on from there.
Your book is nicely versed.
Dealit707 3 years ago
out of the mouth of babes comes wisdom. you seem like a very nice lady Hang in their
refici222 3 years ago