The Two Percent Miracle

by Beth Staas

Linda and Warren Benjamin are living the American Dream in their middle-class suburban cocoon outside the city of Chicago. Well-educated and intelligent, these basically decent and moral people find their lives shattered when their third child and first son is born with hydrocephalus -- water on the brain. Bravely, the parents are determined that baby Jason (whose name means "one who heals") be given every opportunity for normalcy even though the doctors have predicted only a two-percent chance for survival beyond the age of ten. Almost too fearful to hope, the parents sign permission for surgery and a shunt is inserted into the baby's skull to drain off the excess fluids. The rest of the story traces Jason's development, going from hospital to nursing home to finally live with his family. It ends with Jason entering kindergarten, a true miracle, given the original prognosis.

188 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2001

About the author

I am a coal miner's daughter who lived in a trailer across from the railroad tracks. Actually, my parents were German immigrants, my father coming first to find a job and a place to live, then sending for the family. I was conceived in their joyous reunion. They didn’t know that this was the beginning of the Great Depression. But after hard work and careful savings, they opened a mom and pop store with my brother and sister pitching in after school. Then came World War II with the business flourishing. I attended college with battle-hardened veterans, one of whom I married. Since then, I have become a teacher, then a writer, a role I can pursue for the rest of my life. Beside the Golden Door, my third novel, is a memoir of my years and those of my family.