21 Jun Summertime and the Living is Hopeful The Sequel: The Revision

OK, FRIENDS, THIS ONE SHOULD BE RIGHT. WELL AT LEAST BETTER! MAKE SURE YOU READ THE BOTTOM ABOUT THE GIVEAWAY. 🙂

Happy Summer, everyone! Close your eyes and take a trip back in time with me. What was summer like when you were a kid? For me, the thrill of the last day of school caused something inside me to just about burst. The excitement bubbled up inside me, thinking about the lazy days ahead. Summer seemed to go on forever back then. It was long days of drinking Cokes and eating hot dogs at the community pool.  It was first kisses and first heartbreak.  It was after dinner runs to the ice cream truck hoping there would still be Chocolate Eclair bars.  Even the summer I went to summer school was filled with new friends and newfound freedom. As the years went by, it was summer jobs and drives to the Jersy Shore with my friends. We’d lie in the sun way too long, talk about boys, and just relish the day. Summer was a season filled with possibilities. One summer, I met a guy going to grad school near where I was going to college. I was hopeful that I’d get a ride to and from college with him. Well, I did, and over fifty years later, he’s still driving me around.  Certain summers are especially magical.

That same guy and I recently got back from a vacation with our kids, their wives, and our grandkids.  Creating memories together kept the magic of summer alive.

I marveled at the jumping fish and the wide eyes watching them. I listened raptly as one grandson told me about a starfish he saw with only three appendages and told me not to worry because the legs will grow back. I cuddled with sun-kissed little bodies and whispered in their ears.

I hope these little ones remember this trip as one filled with magic. And I hope they have summers in front of them that will rival the magic of my childhood memories.

Of course, as adults, summers often lose their magic. We have to work, we have to pay bills, and where I live, we have to deal with oppressive heat.  But still, summer can be filled with the magic of making memories, having grand adventures, and looking at life through a different lens.

As much as I believe in the magic of summer, unfortunately, as an adult, I now equate summer with Hurricane Season. Living on the Gulf Coast, Hurricanes are not something foreign to me.  I’ve witnessed many storms and survived floods.

When I stepped out of my destroyed house in 2015 I remembered Mr. Rogers’s call to “Look for the helpers.” They were never far away.  I decided that I needed to do something to help kids get through this. People told me that I should write a story about the flood, but something stopped me. I didn’t want to take the magic of summer away from kids.

But, after a few more floods and lots of discussions with kids, I thought maybe I could give the story idea a try.

And so, I wrote. I tossed and turned and wondered how I could explain my feelings in a picture book that would be honest, yet uplifting. I finally knew that I wanted to write a book about kindness and paying it forward. That was the magic of those “Flood Summers.”

After many nights of fretting and more revisions than I care to count, A FLOOD OF KINDNESS was born. So now, in the summer, even though I worry and wonder if we’ll get hit by a hurricane, I know no matter what happens, the helpers are out there, and kindness, resilience, and hope will get us through.  I hope if you or yours ever go through something like this or any loss, you know that kindness will overcome fear. It may take a while, but it will happen.

(I apologize in advance, but what follows is a bit of shameless self-promotion.)

This is the editorial description of the book that came out of those summer nights tossing and turning in bed.

To continue on the theme of paying it forward, I’d like to offer a giveaway. You will have a choice of a picture book critique or (gather your young ones for this), a Zoom visit from me with a child or group of children. All you have to do is comment on this post. If you are a follower of my blog, let me know, and you will get two chances to win.

With hope for magical summers,

Ellen