Micah Twins Inspire Children's Book about Princesses with Physical--and Other--Challenges

Sometimes in life, we are so moved by someone or something that we feel we have no choice but to act. That's what happened to Sally Rosenberg Romansky. The e-mails from her friend, Micah member Lewis Kessler, left her with no choice but to write a book.

Lewis and Tamara Kessler were on one of their many trips to Poland with their young twins, Isabel and Olivia. Olivia is able-bodied, but Isabel has cerebral palsy, and an institute in Poland offered intensive and affordable physical therapy. Despite their local doctors' negative prognosis, the Kesslers were determined to see Isabel develop and thrive, and so three times a year for several years, they made the trek to the tiny town of Mielno, where Isabel underwent therapy six hours a day, six days a week, one month at a time. Olivia, meanwhile, helped and humored the other children in the gym, and was her sister's biggest cheerleader.

Along the way, Lewis Kessler would send e-mails to family and friends about Isabel's progress, like this one written Jan. 18, 2001, when the girls were five:

"It feels like a dream except I saw it this morning...Isabel standing there on her own for a full three minutes. Pzymek, her lead therapist, has Isabel using her arms to reach for various objects while remaining balanced. Then, then, then he barks, "come on Iza, take a step!" (He had been trying this for the past two days but her little feet just stayed grounded.) Today, though, her left foot slides out tentatively, in front of her right foot and she stands for a second longer before collapsing into Pzymek's arms. Stunned."

And this one, sent two days later:

"Isabel put in such an astounding workout that our interpreter, Boguslaw, a.k.a. Bogie, the guy who pads his stomach with butter before drinking a liter of vodka, the kind of man who says, `no matter how much meat you eat, I can eat more,' the sort who boasts, `when I was in the Polish navy, I was itching to take on the Russians,' just broke down in the gym today and wept. `I am sorry, Lewis, but I cannot take it. Day after day, she is so strong, so tough, like a pocket Hercules...'"

Romansky, a member of Washington Hebrew Congregation and a former classmate of the Kesslers at Harvard Law School, was so inspired by the correspondence that she began what became a five-year project: writing a children's fiction book with characters modeled after Isabel and Olivia, now 11. Invincible was published by Imagination Stage in 2006.

The book was originally entitled My Pocket Hercules, but Romansky decided that excluded Olivia.

The book chronicles the tale of 10-year-old twin princesses-- one of whom is disabled--and their quest to see the world outside the castle walls. Lena, the disabled twin, wants to learn to ride a horse and explore that world. Meg, who can walk, is afraid of horses, and of Lena's mission. The message is that everyone has obstacles and fears.

"Everybody has some sort of challenge," said Lewis Kessler. "It may not be as obvious as Isabel's. But the point is the kind of person you become in the process. We were very proud of the fact that Olivia and Isabel inadvertently became little role models of what you can do."

"They inspired this book," said Romansky. "Not just kind of. They really did." Romansky said that Princess Lena has Isabel's "fiery determination and perseverance. No doubt that's the child in the e-mail." Princess Meg, like Olivia, "is so embracing, and so able to see beyond the surface and find ways to connect."

Romansky said the king in the book bears some resemblance to Lewis Kessler, but the queen is not a reflection of his wife. In fact, Romansky said that Tamara Kessler always wants her to make sure that everybody knows she's not the queen--portrayed in the book as rather distant and dispassionate.

In real life, their family is "very bonded," said Lewis Kessler, a self-described "mostly stay-at-home dad," who also writes screenplays and takes on occasional legal work. The two girls not only have the typical intense connection shared by identical twins, but their relationship is "turbo charged" given Isabel's challenges, he said.

And although Isabel has a physical disability, "when you spend time with her, it all melts away," said their father. She's a bright student and is very athletic, participating in a number of adaptive sports, including horseback riding, skiing and biking. And she's an excellent swimmer, Lewis Kessler said, taking full advantage of the family's 75-foot lap pool. "Isabel calls it `the aqua living room,' " he said.

The rest of the Kesslers' Chevy Chase, Md., home is completely accessible, a stunning, modern house that was carefully engineered for Isabel.

But navigating the outside world isn't easy. The Kesslers can't just drop off their kids at Hebrew school like everybody else. Stopping the car in the parking lot and having the crew pile out is not an option with Isabel's wheelchair. Although Isabel can walk with a tripod cane or holding someone's hand, the temple's small spaces and the heavy congestion during religious school and mid-week Hebrew make the wheelchair more practical. Getting up to the bimah is also problematic, as there is no ramp.

Lewis Kessler said that the whole experience of having a physically challenged child has taught him and his wife patience, empathy and tolerance. "You learn to appreciate that the glass is half full. You learn to do things you didn't think you could do before. You learn the Nietzsche maxim: `What doesn't destroy you makes you stronger.' You learn them all. They don't become trite phrases," he said. "Life literally is one step at a time."

[By Carole Sugarman; from March 2007 Vine]