How They Turned Grief Into a Gift of Hope
By Samantha Brown
Everyone knows the story of the tortoise and the hare. The slow, steady turtle wins the race, not because he’s fast, but because he refuses to give up. But there’s a question that the story never answers: How did the turtle learn not to give up? For the Harmon family, that question became the foundation of a children’s book that would honor a mother’s courage, help a family heal, and offer hope to others walking through the darkest valleys.
Sarah Harmon faced a nearly two-year battle with colon cancer with faith and determination that left a lasting mark on everyone who witnessed it. Throughout her journey, she documented her experiences on CaringBridge and YouTube, sharing not just the struggles but also the hope that sustained her family.
Her husband Jesse watched helplessly as his wife fought with everything she had. “It was a real struggle early on,” Jesse recalls. “None of it really makes sense.” He also faced questions no parent wants to answer: How do you tell your children their mom has cancer? How do you explain what cancer is to a six-year-old?
Sarah passed away on March 21, 2025, leaving behind Jesse and their children, but in the midst of their grief, the family found a way to honor her memory while helping others who face similar battles. The book they published, titled My Mom Is My Hero and Her Journey to #Fighthard Against Cancer, began as a way for Jesse to answer his children’s questions and put a purpose to their pain. “It was a way for us to process what we were going through,” Jesse explains, “to put pen to paper about feelings we had but also to, hopefully, help other people in similar situations.”
The story follows a character named Tank the Turtle, who learns perseverance by watching his mother battle cancer. Since the narrative mirrors the Harmon family’s own journey, Jesse hoped the book would create conversations about cancer, show how people can help, and offer hope through the process.
What makes this book even more remarkable is that it’s entirely a family creation. “Everything in the book, between content and illustration, is all us,” Jesse says. Jesse’s son, Graham, who is now 13, created all the artwork for the book when he was just 12. This included illustrating the story on every page, designing the front and back covers, and contributing to every design element of the publication. The younger children were involved, too, as Jesse would read drafts to them, and they would offer feedback about what they thought.
The book even comes with a plushy pillow of Tank the Turtle. However, the first prototype of the character didn’t pass muster with the two younger children. “Dad, this is horrible. You need to do something different,” they told him, so Graham came up with ideas for a redesign, and this second version is what accompanies the book today.
Ultimately, this collaborative process gave each child a way to honor their mother and process their feelings—they weren’t just reading a story about loss and perseverance; they were helping create it.
At the heart of the book is a message that sustained the Harmon family through their darkest moments: Trust God and never give up. Relatedly, Sarah’s favorite Bible verse was Proverbs 3:56, which says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart.” That verse became the backbone of how the family faced each day.
“Whenever life throws you the craziest curveballs, where do you go?” Jesse asks. “We want people to see that no matter the circumstances, no matter the pain, trust in the Lord with all your heart. That’s what we want the message to be about through this whole process.”
Faith wasn’t just something the family talked about—it carried them through nearly two years of treatment, uncertainty, and loss. And it continues to sustain them as they share Sarah’s story, as the Harmon family has turned their grief into active outreach. They speak at churches and Fellowship of Christian Athletes meetings, sharing the book and its message.
People can purchase copies at tanktheturtle.com, but the family is equally committed to giving books away to families in need. Last October, during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, they set a goal to give away one book a day for a total of 30 families facing cancer. “We ended up giving away 80-something books in the month of October,” Jesse shares.
This past March was especially significant, as this is Colon Cancer Awareness Month and it marks the one-year anniversary of Sarah’s passing. Because of this, the family is planning additional initiatives—ways to honor her memory while continuing to support others facing cancer battles—but they have not yet announced these plans publicly.
Although Sarah’s battle with cancer ended about a year ago, the legacy of her life continues. Through every copy of the book given to a family who has heard the words “you have cancer” for the first time, Tank the Turtle’s enduring example demonstrates the life lessons that the Harmon children learned from their mother’s experience: that perseverance is born from faith, that hope can sustain us through the hardest battles, and that even in loss, love creates something lasting.
When Jesse started writing this book, he was trying to answer his children’s questions and process his own pain, but what emerged was something bigger: a resource for families, a tribute to a remarkable woman, and a testimony to a faith that does not waver, even when circumstances seem impossible. My Mom Is My Hero isn’t just the title of a children’s book; it’s a declaration that rings true for the Harmon children and for countless other families who have found comfort and courage in its pages. Sarah may be gone, but through this book, her message endures: Trust God with all your heart, and never, ever give up.
