Christine Montgomery remembers the feeling of being a five-year-old girl who just learned she had a hole in her heart.
"I was scared and different than the other kids because I couldn't play like them," Montgomery recalled. I was the outcast because I wasn't keeping up with the children. So that made me feel extremely emotional and sad that I couldn't do it."
Doctors discovered Montgomery has a congenital heart defect and within two years, she had her first open-heart surgery.
That experience pushed the Windsor woman to write a children's book – The Zipper Club – based on her story, to show others they're not alone.
"When I was in the hospital and I had my surgery, my mother was there for me, 24/7. And that's all she did for me was to read stories," she continued. "If I want to share my story in a perspective of a seven-year-old, I want the parent to read the story to the child and go, look, you know, Chrisy did it, and she went in, and she came out, and she's okay."
The Zipper Club is a heartfelt book about being a member of an exclusive club – people who have had open heart surgery, with the scars to show for it.
"If somebody has a scar on their chest, they should be proud. They should wear it proud," she exclaimed. "I just want kids to know they're not the only ones."
"It was a 30-year project stuck in my head that I didn't know where to go or how to do this," said Montgomery, who is now 60 and has grandchildren. "It was just stuck there. And that's when I started reaching out to people, and they just said, sit down and just do it, you can do this."
Montgomery has taken sign language and computer classes at St. Clair College – and three of her four children attended St. Clair College for business and electrical techniques classes.
The passion project was finally self-published in 2025, and she's since sent copies around Canada, the United States, even Australia and New Zealand – hoping to get the book in front of kids at hospitals and in waiting rooms to help them find comfort during their own journeys.
The book's mascot is named Buttons, a teddy bear that took her five days to crochet.
To order a copy of the book, email Montgomery at chrisy246@hotmail.com. Replica bears with the zipper stitching can also be ordered at @Heartsister.creations.
"I'm extremely proud of this book. It tells my story in that short version," she said.
"Just being able to make it this long after all the medical issues that I have endured is an achievement. And just to be able to share my story with other people – it's an amazing feeling to me."
