Wait! How can it be possible that a month has slipped by? I must apologize for keeping you in the dark. My daughter Bailee lives in Austin, Texas and like so very many others, was in the dark too for awhile. When I called on Valentines Day to let her know I was buying her dinner, the roads were already getting bad and no deliveries were being made. I asked about her provisions. She was suppose to have a food delivery on Monday but that was not going to happen obviously. She said “I have 5 english muffins and a half bottle of wine and some oreo cookies”. We talked about rationing the muffins with a shot of wine. She said “Well, if I have a muffin for breakfast and lunch and drink the rest of the wine for dinner, I will just fall asleep and save a whole muffin!” Well, fortunately one of her managers came to her rescue and provided a warm place to sleep and finally a cup of hot coffee. Oh, she said “Dad, you still owe me a Valentines dinner!” Hopefully, no more shivering for awhile in Texas.
Speaking of getting the shakes and shivers and goose bumps, ladies and gentlemen, it looks as though Monday will be the day I submit the final illustrations and final draft to Parson’s Porch! Samantha has put on the finishing touches and I am so happy. It has been a back and forth for months with drafts, revisions, sketches and changes and tweaks and adjustments. But we have finally arrived at this point and Monday looks like the day! Of course, I will be keeping you all posted of the progress! And I am so happy to report that another school is working on more Toucan drawings and just as soon as they are done, I will be posting them on the submittal tab.
On a poem writing note, a great friend of mine, Kenny, just lost his uncle. His name was Johnny Major Hill, from Lebanon, South Carolina. He was almost 99 years old. I doubt any of you would know or recognize that name. But, in June of 1944, Army Ranger, Major Hill and his battalion stormed the beach at Omaha on D-Day. Can you even imagine? I was moved when I read about his story and found a few articles and videos of him online. He was laid to rest yesterday and I wrote Valor in his honor. I will post the poem here soon. Day by day we lose men like Mr. Hill and I truly hope if you ever have an opportunity to sit down with a hero, please do. For one day, they will all be gone and their stories will go with them.
Our writing group met again this month and our fearless leader, Linda, just found out that her latest book titled Redeeming Rob has been accepted and will be published by Parson’s Porch as well. Her books are wonderful and so well written and I am so very happy for her. Congrats Linda and we cannot wait until it’s in our hands! Look for her books on amazon and read her latest blog as well. It’s cuckoo!
I hope you have read the poem 44. I submitted the poem to Miss Susan who was Mr. Aaron’s executive assistant for many many years. She graciously accepted the poem and requested a number of copies to be distributed. I think that’s pretty cool. I just took a chance. What are you doing? Maybe it’s time you took a chance too. I know I waited a long time to submit one of my stories for publication. But I finally got to the point where I was saying, what are you waiting for Jim?
Well that’s it for now. Do you have a birthday coming up for a special someone? Someone just have a baby or maybe getting ready to tie the knot? I would love to write for you for any occasion you might have. It would be an absolute privilege. Thanks again for all of your support. You have no idea how encouraging it is!
Till Next Time,
Jim
Harpersville 