Anticipation

A long-awaited visit and...Jiffy Pop?

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In this issue:

• Just a thank you and see you next week

• And this question:

What has it been like for you to reconnect with loved ones you have not seen for a very long time due to Covid and/or whatever else was going on?  How did the visit match the anticipation? How did you feel afterwards? If you’ve got tips for the emotional tide surge – feel free to share with all of us.

Anticipation

Thank you for the thoughtful and insightful responses to last week’s post about grace in the middle of all that seems dark. My email lit up with grace notes from you and so did the comments section. It was wonderful to feel connected. I added some book recommendations to the comments section on behalf of folks who emailed so be sure to check them out. 

As I write these words, I am doing what I just described to a friend as a “dance with anticipation.” By the time you read this, my son will have arrived and we will be sharing the same airspace for the first time in over two years. I am doing things ahead, preparing – like writing this newsletter, washing sheets in a guest room that has gotten stale and musty from lack of use. I’m thinking about the food we will have. I do these things after I write and I do them with a kind of pleasure that I rarely bring to tasks like this. Despite my attempts to be prepared and get everything ready for this person who is both part of me and yet also a stranger, I am behind. Hence, this very short issue of Spark. 

And perhaps the pressure is off – I’ve seen his house and I’m guessing he won’t notice if I don’t vacuum every square inch of mine. 

I have made no big plans for when he is here. Part of me just wants to sit quietly and see what pours out of him – he’s not a big phone talker so the conversations from the past two or so years have not left me with a full picture of where he is these days, a month shy of his 47th birthday. 

Mostly, I plan to hug him as much as he will let me. 

A small change in plans: I will share the “Writer’s Cat” interview with Kindle, the very literary and adventurous feline advisor to writer David Abrams next week instead of this week. It will be worth the wait!

Let me know how you are and what you’ve been reading to wrap up the month of March and what you plan to read when April begins next week. 

Now here is that little fun story that I’ve been saving:

A Child Will Lead Us

I spent a lot of months trying to figure out how to get my first novel into the hands of readers. This eight-year-old didn’t overthink it or wait around for the publishers when he finished his first book. He took matters into his own hands and set about finding his audience in the one place he knew he’d find readers: his local library. The results were enviable. Read and learn right HERE.

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As always, check out our books in the Spark Community Recommendations Page at bookshop.org for your next read or a gift. Every sale helps local bookstores and the commissions we earn (if any) will go to support literacy programs selected by this community..

Ciao for now.

Gratefully yours,

Betsy

P.S. And now, your moment of Zen…Anticipation Part II

Sparker Rob C masters the zen of Jiffy Pop

Calling for Your Contribution to “Moment of Zen”

What is YOUR moment of Zen? Send me your photos, a video, a drawing, a song, a poem, or anything with a visual that moved you, thrilled you, calmed you. Or just cracked you up. This feature is wide open for your own personal interpretation.

Come on, go through your photos, your memories or just keep your eyes and ears to the ground and then share. Send your photos/links, etc. to me by replying to this email or simply by sending to: elizabethmarro@substack.com. The main guidelines are probably already obvious: don’t hurt anyone  -- don’t send anything that violates the privacy of someone you love or even someone you hate, don’t send anything divisive, or aimed at disparaging others. Our Zen moments are to help us connect, to bond, to learn, to wonder, to share -- to escape the world for a little bit and return refreshed. 

I can’t wait to see what you send!