Those cornerstone people of your life. Do they ever really pass?
Today is a sparkling. sunny cold Saturday afternoon. Stepping inside the Women and Children First Bookstore in Chicago and the presence of my Aunt Jean, who passed this past year comes filling the room with her own smiling sounds of delight. You can hear her applauding to be back here in this room full of books and curiosity and conversation. She is having simultaneous conversations with everyone in the room. The music is Otis Redding singing “Change Is Gonna Come.” He belts out “I was born buy the river, in a little tent. And just like that river. . . “
And I remember when I did the reading of “Finding Work When There Are No Jobs” at this store.
After a day of massive publicity, including a TV appearance. And maybe 9 or 10 people showed up. But one of them was a woman who said she really liked the book, but couldn’t afford it. So Jeannie stepped in and bought it for her. That’s Jeannie. Then back to today. Jeannie back in her bookstore. The sun shining like hope. The books like a rainbow of possibility. Right this moment. Here and now with Jeanie’s presence. Talking books.