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Austin Tao is surrounded by family and friends. JOSHUA SUDOCK, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER What is this?
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6th-grader honors twin brother who died of cancer
Classmates hold readathon at Anaheim school to honor Bentley Tao, 11.
ANAHEIM - Bentley Tao was Austin's twin brother. His best friend. His other half.
Austin Tao, 11, has felt like part of himself is missing since Bentley died in November, just four months after his brain cancer diagnosis.
On Monday, the sixth-grader from Sunkist Elementary School in Anaheim got a chance to honor his brother. And a chance to smile.
In a school ceremony surrounded by about 75 other sixth-graders, Austin presented 35 books and 35 jester dolls to a representative from Children's Hospital of Orange County.
Copies of the book, called "Jester Has Lost His Jingle," will go to kids at CHOC who are battling cancer and other illnesses. The children's book, about a jester who helps a mythical kingdom rediscover laughter, was written and illustrated by David Saltzman just before he died of Hodgkin's disease in 1990. The theme is to remind people dealing with tragedy that happiness is around the corner – you just have to seek it.
The students at Sunkist read the book in class to help them cope with the loss of Bentley. It was the first time they were able to laugh together again in class, said their teacher, Christopher Lock.
The class talked openly about Bentley's death. They cried together. They talked about how they could heal and what they could do to support Austin and to honor Bentley.
They decided to organize a "readathon" to acquire more copies of the book to pass along to other children in need.
"Bentley loved reading," Lock said. "And my students were really excited to do something to help."
They had 12 days to read as much as they could in the library. Their goal: To have the entire sixth grade class of about 75 students read 12,000 pages.
After the 12 days were up, they tallied the final numbers. They finished with more than 24,600 pages.
The Jester and Pharley Phund, an organization led by the author's mom, Barbara Saltzman, donated the books and dolls to reward that accomplishment.
The students overwhelming participation and enthusiasm also overwhelmed the Tao family.
Bentley and Austin's mom, Freda Tao, came to the school Monday to express her gratitude to her sons' classmates.
"Thank you for reading all those pages," she said.
"It means so much for me and for Austin," she continued, then paused, overcome by emotion. Then the tears started to fall.
She got a hug from Barbara Saltzman, who knows that sadness exactly. Monday was the 19th anniversary of Saltzman's son's death.
Then Freda Tao turned back to the students. "I love you all," she finished through tears.
The students said it was the least they could do to show the family how much they loved Bentley and how much they miss him.
"I cried for two weeks, every day, when I heard what happened to Bentley," said Jacob Perales, 11, the boys' friend since kindergarten.
"This has helped me to know that we might be helping others," Jacob said.
Austin said he thinks about his brother every day when he's in class or playing video games – their favorite activity together. The support of his classmates has helped him deal with his sadness.
When asked what it felt like to hand over all those books for other kids in need, a big smile crept across Austin's face.
"I think it's really good that we did it," he said. "I think Bentley knows that we did it and he's up there really happy right now too."
Contact the writer: 714-704-3769 or ecarpenter@ocregister.com
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