Life is Good

Earlier this week I'd mailed out the "friends & family" shipments of autographed copies of TFB. Packages at my sister's apartment house tend to grow legs, so I'd sent her copy to her work address.

Sheila called first thing this morning to let me know how thrilled she was when the book arrived yesterday--and what a stir it had caused when she casually informed people "Oh yes, this is my sister's new book."

It's hard not to get blase about the business, especially when so many of my friends are writers, so to me it seems natural that I walk into a bookstore and see the names of my friends on the spines of books. I forget that many people have never met an author, or even the sister of an author.

Then Sheila said something that really touched me. "After all, how many people actually achieve their childhood dreams? Everyone has dreams, but life intrudes and they put them aside. But you went and did it."

Somedays amidst all the crap and the tough spots, I forget how truly special and wonderful this is. It takes an outsider to remind me that the cup is not only full, it's very shiny.

Turns out my sister can be wise, and who would have thunk it?

But I'm still the oldest.