For the sake of organization, we’ll do this chronologically. Last night was the grand finale of Ryan’s “The Story That Grew Up to be a Book!” workshop, where we presented twelve students with handily crafted book versions of the stories they’ve been working on for the last month. Parents and siblings gathered for a reading of stories about the life of a fish, a hyperactive grandmother, a ghost, an injured dog, a golden horseshoe, fighting for freedom, a trip to Chicago, abused eardrums, a slave, a figure skater, a cat named Marybelle, and a green Jelly Man. It was, for lack of a better word, awesome.
Without getting too mushy, I would just like to say that it has been a great pleasure getting to know all the kids involved in this workshop, and I can speak for both Ryan and myself when I say that their stories exceeded every expectation and hope we had going into this.
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826 alum/superstar Aja reads “The House on Cherry Street” in which a character, also named Aja, suffers repeated eardrum damage. |
The gang poses with their books. You may recognize that charmingly handsome man on the floor as Ryan, our superintern. |
After this, I thought, Can it get any better? Friends, it can, and often, it does. After tidying up after the workshop, Erin, John, and I raced off to Haisley Elementary where the fundraising dinner for Suddenly My Heart Stopped for Just a Small Portion of Time: Defining Moments was already underway. You can only imagine my surprise when I saw that the multipurpose room Valerie and I had set up earlier for thirty people was stuffed with seventy people! Second student reading of the night, this time I was treated to tales of a sad Cuban grandfather, a sick goldendoodle puppy, a heart attack, coming into America from Mexico, and a foster family. The applause was thunderous.
Does this “thanking people” business get old in the blog-world? I hope not. It certainly doesn’t to me. Many more thanks to Valerie and Stella, and the students at Haisley and Greenhills. You guys amaze me!
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The group listens to Leah read about her secret identity. |
Don’t be fooled by their smiling faces, Jose’s incredibly moving story also brought some audience members to tears. |