Finding Chika: A Little Girl, an Earthquake, and the Making of a Family

Albom hesitated to turn to the internet for advice and information during Chika’s illness because he knew it was likely to inspire both false hope and false despair. However, as Albom and Janine became more desperate to find a cure, they began doing research online. Albom came across a doctor in Germany who specialized in DIPG, working on novel treatments for the disease using a vaccine method. The Alboms took Chika to Germany 16 months after the doctor said she would only live for four. Albom recalls Chika’s joy and engagement with life as she started to grow up. She was full of questions about relationships, marriage, and philosophy. Albom expresses gratitude for Chika’s boundless joy and ability to appreciate life even through hard times, which helped him and Janine do the same.

Chika once asked Albom if she could stay in Haiti next time they visited, and Albom explained that she was still sick and would have to come back to America. Chika had never heard Albom refer to her as “sick” before and protested this label vehemently.

Albom, Janine, and Chika arrived in Cologne, Germany, where Chika began to use a wheelchair. It was difficult for Albom to watch Chika use a wheelchair, recalling how both his parents slowly lost their luster after losing their mobility. Chika, however, was happy because it meant she could get places faster. The clinic was more sterile than the children’s hospital in Michigan, but the doctor was friendly and warm, and the treatment was so complex and innovative that Albom started to hope again. Chika did not question or cry during her blood transfusions; instead, she left the clinic singing. He remembers wheeling Chika through the streets of Cologne and carrying her up the stairs to their small apartment. He also remembers Chika’s awe at the Cologne Cathedral. He thinks about how Chika’s illness tested his relationship with God. Albom felt angry and betrayed by God. He could not understand why a child had to suffer this way. He was ultimately able to keep his faith because of a rabbi’s advice, which reminded him that believing in God meant having an outlet for his anger.

As Albom writes his memoir, he begins feeling ill: dizzy spells, numbness, racing heartbeat, and other symptoms of anxiety start to appear. He undergoes testing and is told to get more rest and hydration. Janine feels that the reason for his illness is the unresolved grief coming up as he tells the story of Chika’s life and his love for her. Albom remembers the first time Chika told him she loved him. It was over the phone while he was away, and although it was quick and fleeting, it was “wonderful, just the same” (189).

Albom and Chika’s ghost recall their three trips to Germany together. Albom remembers gauging Chika’s health by her walk. One day, she fell to the floor and refused help, crawling up the stairs instead. Albom believes that Chika’s will to fight never wavered during her life.

Albom writes a chapter in celebration of Janine and her openness toward the parental role Albom thrust upon her when he brought Chika home to Michigan. Janine dressed, fed, and bathed Chika. She fixed her special smoothies and played with her for hours, and the two often snuggled up for movies or to enjoy one another’s company. Albom thanks Chika’s spirit for showing him this side of his wife, which otherwise he may never have known. Now he appreciates Janine in a new way, seeing a part of her that was always there but had not had the opportunity to shine. When Chika referred to Janine as her “mommy,” Janine corrected her, reminding her of her biological mother, who died in Haiti. Though the idea that Chika saw her as a mother touched her deeply, Janine did not want to replace Chika’s birth mother. Albom writes that for all the time, energy, and unconditional love that Janine gave Chika, she was as much a mother as any he has known.

One day, Janine found Chika in her bedroom, belting out a gospel song called “No Longer a Slave.” Janine filmed her as she sang passionately for eight minutes. She told Albom that Chika was singing to God.

On their last trip to Germany, Christmas was approaching. Albom noticed that Chika was becoming wobbly, her speech was becoming even slower, and she was struggling to move her fingers. When they came home to Michigan, the doctor found that Chika’s disease had progressed rapidly. Christmas was a week away.

Chika’s ghost tells Albom she’s leaving because she knows Albom is about to reach the sad part of the story. Because she is a child, she wants to have fun, she explains. Albom asks Chika where she goes when she disappears, but Chika has no solid answer. He asks her again, wanting to know that she has a healthy body and is at peace with God. Chika asks Albom, “How come you don’t feel good, Mister Mitch?” (205), and Albom begs her to stay, but she disappears.

Albom is reluctant to start the seventh part of his book. He hoped it would never come. He and Janine continued trying various treatments until the very end. Albom describes notes in Chika’s medical file indicating his and Janine’s continued pursuit of treatment despite Chika’s declining health. Albom and Janine never gave up, and Chika lived much longer than any doctor expected.

Albom asks Chika’s ghost if she knows what is going on at the mission these days or visits there sometimes. He tells her of the new children who have arrived and those who have grown up. He describes the new garden and music room and tells her that the staff continue to remember and pray for her. He tells her about two boys who graduated and went off to college in the United States, one of whom wants to become a doctor because of what happened to Chika. Albom marvels at Chika’s continued influence and hopes that she knows about it too.

Chika’s last Christmas was quiet. She was no longer able to speak or move much, and Janine and Albom had to help her open presents. Albom wondered if he and Janine were pushing Chika too hard with continued treatments, but he was grateful that she made it to Christmas. In January, the Alboms held a massive celebration for Chika’s seventh birthday. All her friends and family were there. Two women dressed as Disney princesses sang for the children. Albom hugged Chika constantly. She sat quietly in awe, unable to partake but enjoying watching everything as it unfolded.

Albom went to Haiti shortly after Chika’s birthday to buy her a plot in the cemetery near where she was born. He was horrified to find out that it was standard to bury people on top of one another due to a lack of space and money. Albom bought two plots near a tree, and the woman who processed his payment could not understand why wanted so much space for one child. Leaving the cemetery, Albom felt like he had betrayed Chika.

One day, Chika told Albom that his job was not to go to work but to carry her. Looking back, he realizes how true that statement was and how the things that people carry end up defining them. In Chika’s last weeks, this single responsibility replaced everything that Albom once thought was important. He remembers how well Chika handled everything as her health declined. She attracted many visitors every day, one of whom sang a gospel song for her. On April 6, Chika’s breathing and heart rate slowed, almost killing her. Albom was able to revive her by thumping on her back and putting a suction tube down her throat. The nurses admitted they had assumed she was about to die. Albom expresses gratitude that his job has become carrying children, including Chika and the others at the orphanage.

Someone gave Chika a stuffed bear at the hospital. She used the bear to communicate that she understood how much Albom loved her.

The day before Chika died, many people came to visit her. On April 7, her breathing slowed again. Albom and Janine gathered around her, holding her and talking to her softly. They listened as Chika’s breath slowed, and Janine gave her permission to go see her mother in heaven. She broke down crying as Chika left the world.

Albom is relieved to have finished the story but overcome by emotion. Chika’s spirit reappears, and he is able to hug her for the first and last time since she died. He thinks of Chika as his child and thanks her for creating a family that he did not have before.

Chika was buried in Haiti on April 15, 2017. Her funeral was attended by her father and biological siblings, Albom and Janine, and many other people from the orphanage staff and the United States. Later at the orphanage, Chika’s uncle approached Albom with Chika’s three-year-old brother and asked Albom to take him in. Albom agreed. Later, he and Janine took in Chika’s older sister as well.

Albom ends his memoir describing Chika’s desire to try coffee. On the day Albom finally relented, she seemed so glad to be growing up. Now, the Alboms grieve Chika’s lost years but do not feel they lost Chika; instead, they found her.