The Cowgirl and I are having trouble getting to sleep lately. I am reading her one of my favorite books from my childhood, the 21 Balloons by William Pene Du Bois.
Every time the clock rolls around to 9 and I know we both need to call it quits we are in the middle of an explosion or invention or crash landing. She begs me to keep going. She doesn't have to beg much. I don't really want to stop either.
But last night I finally declared a stopping point and as she groaned I flipped to the front of the book.
(The book I am reading is a 9th edition from 1966)
Viking Press.
New York.
I blinked away tears, surprised by the force of the realization.
Do you know when a dream comes true it hits you almost as hard as when it doesn't? I never suspected that.
For the first time ever I realized what the last year has meant to me.
I am a Viking author now.
The Cowgirl asked why I stopped talking and I just said, "This book is from Viking."
She watched me wipe my eyes and asked if that was bad.
"No," I assured her. "It's really, really good."
The Artist smiled at me through the dim glow of the nightlight, across the bright heads of our sleepy daughters.
I leaned back in my rocking chair and let the truth glide over me, like a little Viking ship over the ocean.
Really, really good.
\
That is so exciting! What a fabulous past year...I bet if you were to do a Christmas letter about your family, it would be the most exciting letter you'd ever written. Congratulations!!
ReplyDeleteAwesome!
ReplyDeleteI stumbled here from facebook and I'm glad I did. What a fabulous thing you have here. I'm excited to read along. I have 21 Balloons hibernating in a box somewhere and I have never read it. You have made me want to dig it up and dig in. And I'm adding your book of must reads to my list as well. I'm so happy I get to know you.
ReplyDelete