Last month Hubby and I went to one of our favorite Sunday brunch places, The Yolk. It’s a tiny hole-in-the-wall kind of place that recently had to change walls due to a fire. We drove past their new location and were excited to see cars parked outside and people inside. They’d finally reopened! We went in, the waitress seated us right away and we admired the new look while enjoying our breakfast off their eclectic menu. It wasn’t until we asked for our bill that we were told ~

Oh we’re not officially open yet. This was just our soft opening for our benefactors and to see how everything flowed. Your breakfast is on the house.

We were mortified. We apologized…offered to pay for our breakfast… The owner thought it was funny and refused our cash. We left a nice tip for our waitress and slipped out while the other ‘customers’ were thanked for their generous support after the fire.

Over the last two weeks was another soft opening, one that has been both wonderful and humbling. My poetry collection, In the Garden of Life and Death~A Mother and Daughter Walk was released! In mid-December I attended a book launch for moonShine review at the editor’s home. Its publisher happens to be mine as well and before I’d put my purse down he encouraged me to check out the Christmas decorations. Anne did a really nice job. I thought the suggestion a little odd – of course I’d check out the decorations…after I got a plate of food…a glass of wine… But it seemed important I do that first. Like seeing the cars in The Yolk’s parking lot and the people inside, I was just happy to be there and completely missed the fact there may be something else going on.

So I wandered through the rooms, (Anne’s decorations were really pretty), and in the office, where I found a place to finally stash my purse, alongside all the other authors’ books was mine. All I could say was oh my gosh…oh my gosh…I got a little teary. Then I heard the whispers, Has she seen them?! Seeing them for the first time surrounded by Hubby and friends made receiving them all the more sweet.

Copies were sent to my ‘benefactors’ – those who’d pre-ordered my book. I imagined the envelopes falling like snow across South Carolina, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Florida, Illinois and Wisconsin. That’s where the final stage of the soft opening began. Amid the excitement of the holidays, family and friends found quiet moments to open the pages, read my family’s story and peek into the tiny windows of childhood cancer and care-giving.

Their responses bring me to real tears. I’m so grateful to my first readers for their support and kind words, and to have these past couple of weeks to pinch myself into believing this is real.

But now it’s time to celebrate! Book launches and readings/signings are in the works. There will be wine, chocolate…and I don’t know what else. I can’t wait to spend time with you answering questions about In the Garden of Life and Death, writing, poetry…The Yolk. Whatever comes up. Will you join me?