Holding Them Close

Today, images of yesterday's tragedy in Boston fill the newspaper, sounds of it fill the airwaves.  It's nearly inescapable, even from the front windows of the school building where I work - I can easily see the flag flying at half staff in honor of the victims.

One of those victims was an 8 year old boy.  That hits home for me... I have my own 8 year old, currently getting ready to head into bed.  I can't stop thinking about that child's parents - the father who ran and the mother currently hospitalized with serious injuries.  How will they ever pick up the pieces of their lives and carry on?  I can't imagine many things that would be worse than losing a child, especially in such a random, inexplicable way.

I want to keep my girls within arm's length.  I want to hold them close and keep them safe from harm.  I don't want to send them off to the Y to dance class or to school or around the block on their bikes.  Something might happen to them.  Someone might hurt them.  They might hurt themselves.

Realistically, I know that I can't shield them from every danger, real or imagined.  I know I need to let them explore and become independent.  I need to let them bump their elbows, scrape their knees, and get lost not too far from home.  I need to let them experience the joys of first love and the sorrows of a broken heart.

I need to let them live their lives.

Easier said than done on a day like today....

Waiting.....For What?

I feel like I'm spending a fair amount of time lately waiting.

Waiting for a meeting to being.
Waiting for a meeting to end.
Waiting for my daughter to get ready to leave for school.
Waiting for both girls after dance classes.
Waiting for dinner to finish cooking.


Waiting for spring to finally, truly, arrive.

This last one is kind of getting me down.  I'm tired of cold, gray days. I know that spring days in April are often rainy and gray, but when the air is warm and smells like lilacs, it's just easier to bear!

I know it's coming... it always does.  If fall and winter are any indication, though, spring may just take its own sweet time to arrive on my door step.

When it does, though, I'm going to embrace it!  I'm not going to:
wait for a better time to work in the garden.
wait for better weather to go for a walk.
wait for a free afternoon to go for a bike ride.
wait for life to pass me by.

Fan Girly

Ever read a book that made you grin from ear to ear and sigh when you had to stop reading for any reason?  I've read lots of those in my day, let me tell you, and lately, I find that I am reading more of them.

What's different now from when I read those books when I was a kid is social media.  When I was a kid, I knew authors wrote books.  I knew there was a person named Judy Blume who thought up the stories that kept me reading under the covers with a flashlight night after night.  But I never thought I would have a chance to SAY something to Judy Blume.  I knew I could write her a letter and send it to her publisher, but I never knew if I would get an answer back.  NOW, though, NOW there is this thing called Twitter, and authors... REAL LIVE AUTHORS are there... and when you tweet them MANY WILL ANSWER YOU BACK!  It's crazy!  I love it!

The other difference is now I know where to find authors in real life... I can go to bookstore events and meet and talk to them and get my books signed.  Like here:

Yes, that's Maggie Stiefvater and me at the ALAN cocktail party.  And you know what?  When I meet my favorite  YA authors, like Maggie or Libba Bray, or Beth Revis, or many of the others, I go totally fan-girly.  I get completely excited and feel like I'm 13 again.  I'm just so in awe of these people who can spin stories and completely captivate me for hours on end.

I know I am an adult, and I know that authors are people just like me, but I just can't help getting excited when I meet them.  Besides... it makes me feel young.

And that, my dear readers, is priceless.

(This post was inspired by my reading of Book Love by Penny Kittle.)