I Didn't Expect the Love

 A dear old friend writes: 

I got your book for Christmas yesterday and finished reading it this morning! I loved it! It was fun to fit the pieces of what I knew from our time together into the rest of your history. The part about being open to gardening wisdom from Barbara was especially meaningful to me because you allowed my children to cut some of those beautiful flowers from your yard to give to me at the hospital after you had cared for my older 2 children while I had my 3rd baby. The flowers were so lovely and you had already done so much for me in caring for my children, that it felt over the top for you to do something so kind and personal -- and my kids were so pleased to get to give them to me.  Thanks for all you have done for me even after we no longer lived near each other -- for the encouragement you gave me with my son's cancer and for the help you gave me getting up to speed in competition math. You made a huge impact on my life and I wasn't even a student in your classroom.  Great job on the book! 

And follows up with wanting to find a place where we could visit.

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A relative writes how he knows me better now than he ever did before and can't wait for our next conversation. 

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Emails I receive from acquaintances carry a different tone than pre-book.  The messages are more intimate, personal, and parallel a happening I found as teacher: that my audience knows me better than I know them.  The experience of reading a book has the reader feel closer to the author.  While this experience is a little daunting and reveals that I made myself vulnerable in the writing of this book I'm touched and very much enjoying the closer relationships this book brings. 

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The grandmother of my son's fiance writes her grand-daughter, 

I just finished reading Backward and Blind and wanted to thank you for the book. I enjoyed it very much.  His mom is an excellent writer and appears to have been an exceptional teacher.  I am sure she is a wonderful mother also and imagine that he and his sisters had lots of fun growing up.  What did he think about the story on p. 111 when she presented him to the entire student body at one week old? 

What does my son think?  Pre-publication, he gave the "ok" for the stories that included him to be published in the book.  He's not embarrassed by soiling his diapers (and clothing) as a seven-day-old baby -- indeed, he is proud that he demonstrated his extraordinary skill in doing one of his primary jobs at the time. 

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Messages from former colleagues and lifetime friends reach out through email with responses like this: 

I began reading your book yesterday evening and am enjoying it immensely. Thank you for the stories of your  experiences and for stating so compellingly and beautifully the ‘grab’ the profession has on those who teach as a career. Sometimes, in the moment, in the ‘arena’, one loses sight, momentarily, of the soul-filling reasons why we stuck with it. But it holds us firmly in its grip and in retrospect  it is a life well spent. Bravo!

God bless you and your family.