At home on maternity leave, Mary Kearney cradles her newborn, Victoria Abigail, rocking her gently as she moves around her living room. Born just over a month ago, Victoria smiles quietly as her father, Will, looks on with a wide, proud beam across his face.
 “To tell you the truth, I never thought we’d be happy again,” Mary said. “But we are.”
Victoria carries the name of her elder sister, Abigail, who passed away last May - the day after Mother's day - after a brief illness caused by a non-vaccine strain of pneumococcal meningitis. When Abby suddenly fell ill at home, the Kearneys – a young couple whose relationship began as high school sweethearts at Ursuline Academy and Jesuit College Preparatory – were thrown into a waking nightmare as the singular joy in their lives stopped breathing and was taken to the hospital, descending into a coma. Initially told Abby would be in for a two-week stay, the Kearneys quickly learned Abby had little time left.
 “It snowballed into a living hell,” Will said. “It was already hell, but it kept getting deeper.”
The Kearneys had been stunned; all the precautions of doting parents had been taken and Abby had been vaccinated with Prevnar, which protects infants from seven of 91 strains of the virus. Yet she still fell victim to a common bacterium.
Scared, the Kearneys knew they had to be emotionally present for their daughter. Though Abby might not outwardly respond, the Kearneys knew they could soothe her by bringing in the familiar.
“They told us that she was in coma, and that maybe she could hear us,” Mary said. “I knew I had to stay positive. I’ve seen cases where parents collapse and they can’t be there to make a decision. I wasn’t going to be that parent.”
 At the suggestion of the nurses treating Abby, the Kearneys brought in family photos and books, which Abby loved. Will rushed home to bring in Abby’s favorite, Counting Colors, and Goodnight Moon. At 13 months, Abby already showed a keen interest in reading, sometimes surprising her parents.
 “She would turn the pages herself,” Will said. “She couldn’t get enough of them.”
 “It was just like another toy to her,” Mary said. “We had brought them in from day one, so they were a part of her routine."
Last November, the Kearneys decided it was time to memorialize their daughter in a way that would provide a legacy for her.
 “We wanted to define her by what she loved rather than define her by how she died,” Mary said.
 The answer then grew out of Abby’s love of books. In December, the Kearneys began a book drive. Family, friends and perfect strangers contributed, buying books from the Kearneys' Amazon Wish List, with some dropping off their own donations on the family’s front steps. With a starting goal of 300 books, the total has now reached over 1,700.
 Last week, the Kearneys brought younger sister Victoria to see the good that has come from her older sister’s memory. On March 5, the Medical City Children’s Hospital staff introduced Abby’s Book Corner. The library will find a permanent home in the hospital’s new children’s facility, which will open next year.
 For Mary Kearney, it is the ability to impart support to couples in similar situations that gives her peace.
 “Search your heart to know what it is that made your child happy,” Mary said. “See if there is a way to transform that into something that can help others.”

Want to donate to Abby's Book Corner? Visit abbysbookcorner.com or see the Amazon wish list at http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/registry.html?ie=UTF8&type=wishlist&id=31VLXC5EWPCBH.