Tag Archive for: Claire’s Day

Goosebumps. All. Day. Long.

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On the way to the Main Library of Toledo Lucas County Public Library system this past Saturday morning, I enjoyed taking in the scene along the Maumee River. It was a bit cloudy, but the sun was trying to poke out. Then, with a burst of radiance, beams from the sun cleared through the grey skies, shining down onto the river.

I turned to Brad and said, “Check it out…heaven’s rays.”

I knew then that our 22nd annual Claire’s Day, the celebration of our little reader gone too soon would be an excellent day.

The Main Library in downtown Toledo was jammin’ that morning, an electrified excitement bouncing off the walls and shelves.

A year of planning by our Read for Literacy/Claire’s Day team led to this day. Months of working through the myriad of details, and thousands of emails to all of our partners…sponsors, schools,  and collaborators brought us to this point.

A week’s worth of visits to twenty area school partners by our guest authors and illustrators contributed to the excitement.

It was time.

I had the pleasure of serving as the hostess of several C.A.R.E. Award (Claire’s Award for Reading Excellence) ceremonies that morning. Before bestowing special recognition to the most improved readers from various schools in the greater Toledo area, I spoke a bit about our journey.

I talked about Claire and her love of reading. I talked about our family and our desire to honor her in a way that was true to her. And I talked about those heaven’s rays on the way to the library.

Then we announced the students’ names, and each of the award winners received a personalized certificate and a coupon to choose their very own book from the selection written or illustrated by our guest authors and artists. Each child came up to the stage, some shy, not necessarily used to the experience of being recognized for academic achievement, and got their packet. With huge smiles, they gave high-fives to the many teachers from their schools lending support.

Afterward, a father came up to me and shared that he took a picture with his son proudly showing his certificate, in front of the photo of Claire we had up on stage.

As he handed his phone to me, this big, strong guy had tears in the corners of his eyes. As I looked at the picture, I understood why. There, in the background, with a streak of sun across her picture, Claire glowed in the background.

Wow.

It was the first of many goosebumps moments I experienced throughout Claire’s Day Toledo.

Parents hugging me in gratitude.

Random kids coming up and hugging me from behind, just like Claire used to do.

Teachers we’ve seen year after year, offering their gratitude for what we do for their students. One teacher told me, “This is my favorite day of the year!”

Throughout the day, Brad and I connected, holding hands, sneaking a kiss, and sharing stories together.

Claire wouldn’t have had it any other way.

A blur and a blog

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I’m back home, on solid ground, after being in constant motion for the last 5 ½ months in our
motorhome.

I’m sitting at my desk, covered with research books, book proposals, correspondence, works by
upcoming Claire’s Day authors and illustrators, sipping tea and reflecting on our adventures.

Here’s how the (approximate!) numbers stack up; 8,000 miles. Endless hikes with Luna.100
miles biking. 25 rounds of golf. 16 unique camping experiences.13 different bodies of water we
kayaked on. 7 States. 6 visits with friends. Only 4 days of rain. 3 weeks spent with family
members. 2 vet visits with Luna. 1 fun fishing expedition. 0 days laid up due to illness.

When I add up all of the adventures, it equals one hell of an experience.

We left in October when the leaves were just changing in Ohio. We came home in early April
with the trees blooming again. We left with an itinerary, a wish, and a prayer that we’d be safe on
our travels. We came home with unforgettable memories and a sense of accomplishment.

I mean, let’s face it. 5 ½ months spent together in the equivalent of 500 square feet would be a
challenge for anyone.

But we rose to the occasion and had a blast together. Sure, there were squabbles, but, as I offered to
Brad, other than the few times we wanted to throw each other out the window, we did great. I
feel so blessed to have a partner in every sense of the word.

The whole experience reflected how we deal with life. If there’s a problem, we work together to
figure it out. If one of us is feeling a bit down, we build each other up. If one of us is literally or
figuratively on the ledge, we guide each other to a safe place. If we get pissed at each other, we
let it out and let it go.

During our wedding vows 35 years ago, our minister encouraged us to laugh together, cry together, dance
together, make love together, to celebrate life together.

Together.

Here are a few shots of the blur of the last weeks on the road. We visited Blue Ridge,
Georgia, kayaked on the Toccoa River, shopped in the vibrant downtown, and stopped at the
little Serenberry winery for a tasting.

We had to maneuver around the many fishermen on the Toccoa.

I cracked up when seeing this memory again…I thought the hens were going to peck Brad’s toes as he put the kayaks back on the Jeep.

Sun. Wine. Cheers.

We snuck in a short visit with our daughter Kyle, our son-in-law Will, and their pup, Riggins.
Sadly, we didn’t sneak in any pictures of our hike, lunch at a brewery, and cookout at their house.

We wrapped up the journey as it began, stopping at the Rubini family home in Tryon, NC and a
quick overnight with friends Chris and Diane Evans in Lexington.

With Brad’s mom, Lynn, and sister Gail outside the Purple Onion in Saluda.

Thank you for following along on our journeys. These reflections in my blog have been fun for me to create, an outlet as I contemplate my next writing project.

We hope that perhaps our adventures have inspired you to get out there and discover our beautiful country.

Until next time…

 

Starting. Travels Post 1

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My last post left you hanging while my husband Brad and I were getting air inflated into our motorhome’s severely under-inflated tires. Both of us were exhausted, from the anxiety of driving out of El Paso after an overnight snowstorm and having to deal with scraping off ice and snow from the motorhome slide outs. Note to self: Slide outs won’t slide in with snow and ice on them. Luna sat nervously on my lap, panting her anxiousness away. I tried to calm both of us by breathing slowly, in and out.

But…before I move forward, I must go back, back to striking out from Toledo on Brad’s birthday, Thursday, January 27, and driving to San Antonio, where our new-to-us motorhome lived temporarily.

In our planning, Brad and I figured we would drive the 1400-mile drive in leisurely fashion over the course of three days. I should know by now that Brad and leisurely fashion do not belong in the same sentence. Back in the day, traveling in our first motorhome with the kids, we referred to our trips as “Brad’s boot camp.” In all fairness, we’ve always had a dog with us on our travels, and they do tend to wake up in pre-dawn. Brad would throw a pot of coffee on, feed and walk the dog, and off we’d go, on to the next destination.

Since we were a day early on trekking to San Antonio, we had time on our hands, as we weren’t due to meet with the motorhome owners until Sunday, January 30.

Austin was right on our path. It’s a city that has a special place in my heart for several reasons. We traveled there as a family to attend the Texas Book Festival in 2002. We wanted to see the event that inspired Claire’s Day, the book festival we established in honor of our daughter in the flesh. A number of years later, my daughter Kyle and I returned to the city for our first-ever mother/daughter trip. Both trips left us with warm hearts and awesome memories.

This next trip to Austin would offer the same, thanks to the amazing author Meredith Davis and her family.

I’d never met Meredith. We connected after exchanging books through an online forum for writers of nonfiction for children. I won a copy of Meredith’s book, Her Own Two Feet, and in return, I sent her a copy of my biography of Virginia Hamilton. We kept in touch, emailing about our work, our families, our lives. When I told her that Austin was one of my favorite cities, she offered to make sure that if I was ever in town again, to get in touch so that we could meet.

Since Keep it Weird is Austin’s adopted slogan. Meredith didn’t think it weird in the least bit when I texted her and let her know that we were going to be in town and would love to get together…the next day. Meredith and her husband Clay even offered to pick us up at our hotel and take us all (including Luna!) to lunch at one of their favorite spots.

I imagine anyone watching us during that lunch at Polvo’s might have thought that we were old friends, getting together and catching up. That’s how it felt. We laughed, we nearly cried. We ate too much and needed to walk afterward. We wound our way through downtown, admired the new Austin Library (I didn’t get inside…next trip!), and rambled along the Colorado River on the hike and bike trail. It was a beautiful day, the path filled with all ages and stages. Teenage runners with their Air Buds in, young parents with babes in strollers, older couples leaning on each other as they slowly made their way.

At some point, Meredith shared that their son Nate and his band were going to be playing at a club just up the street from where we were staying. “Would you like to join us?” she asked.

Of course.

Austin is known for the food and the music, and we enjoyed a variety of both. It was awesome to witness a live performance again, to let the music flow into our souls and come out our tapping feet. Nate’s band, Everett, were just as happy to be playing as we were to be listening. Their songs and stage presence felt joyful and fun.

The evening went by too quickly, but by 11:30, we were ready to roll. Meredith and I snapped a quick photo, a reflection of our take-a-chance get-together.

The side trip was a lesson that sometimes wonderful things happen when you move too fast…one gets a chance to slow down with new friends.

We left Austin Sunday morning, excited to be meeting the owners of the motorhome that would soon become ours, deflated tires, and all.

Stay tuned for the next portion of the journey…the Wild West.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just a moment podcast

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I had the privilege of being featured in a podcast created by my friend, Chrys Peterson.

The podcast shares inspirational stories of individuals whose lives changed in just a moment.

To hear how mine changed, click the link below.

https://chryspeterson.com/episode-3-rewriting-your-story-after-unbearable-loss/