Rockford siblings honor grandfather with new book, ‘Before You Go to Heaven’

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — Three siblings from Rockford have published a book titled “Before You Go to Heaven” in memory of their grandfather, who passed away in February.

The Whitmore siblings, Antonia, Darby, and Royal, came together to write the book as a tribute to their grandfather, George Royal, and to celebrate the power of family.

“After my grandfather passed away, it was like, okay, I really need to write this book,” said Antonia.

“And, I still [didn’t] know what the title or what exactly the content of the book would be. But one day, the title just washed over me: ‘Before You Go to Heaven.’ And then I started writing it, like I still couldn’t figure it out. So that’s when I asked my siblings to join me in writing this book,” she added.

The siblings collaborated on the book, with each contributing to the writing process. “It was pretty easy because, to be honest, like, we all put work in it together,” said Royal.

The book captures memories and lessons learned from all their grandparents. “I was like, you know what this is for my granddad, let’s just do it,” Darby said.

The Whitmore siblings hope their book serves as a testament to family and the legacy their grandfather left behind.

“This was our way of passing on the torch, like our grandfather did for us,” said Antonia.

All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by WTVO. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat from a broadcast script into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by WTVO staff before being published.