The private lunch and the speaking engagement were fun. The lunch first:

The lady, who got together with Rosezelle and I to have her book signed,.was an extremely pleasant person with no great demands on anyone. That was what caught my attention right off the bat about her.

Mrs. "N" had no theories on WHY Nellie did this or said that in the story of Walking Free. She presented me with no psychological analysis Nellie or of myself,...though she did ask if I thought that the meaningless lives of my mom's deaf relatives might have been what affected some of mom's later actions towards Nellie. I did NOT mention my grandmother. Who and what my grandfather was could have gotten me kicked out of the restaurant, about forty years ago, if it had not been for the likes of Dr. Martin Luthor King!!

Neither did "N" gift my deceased Deaf-Blind friend nor myself with a very unwanted tendency to "sainthood." What a blessing!! We sat and talked for almost two hours, and "N" shared some of her own experiences with us. I was in tears as a tale of someone elses life and death,.."N's" daughter, partially unfolded before my author friend and me.

Losing a close relative, as "N' had lost one to circumstances beyond anyone's control, is always sad. The memory of "N's" dignity in the face of her life's adversity was something that I was able to take out of the restaurant with me as a reminder that once again...."when life knocks us down for whatever reason,..the fact that we get back up again and how we go on with our lives"..is what matters most.

The book came out and Rosezelle and I signed it. Not much conversation followed the book signing but an impact had been made on me,..at least. The standard,.."We must do this again!" and the standard hugs followed. Somehow,..I felt that the hug, given by this lady, this time was real.

Mrs. "N,"... I am sorry that you did not autograph my napkin or something. I wish that I had asked you to do so. I left that luncheon with the distinct impression that the person I had eaten with with was the person,.who should have written the book!

Did I say,.."la-laaaah-laaaah-lah!" with "Daria" music before in my last entry? I was guilty of pre-judging!! Perhaps...people are as human as you will let them be in certain cases!!

(More later on today as to what happened over the weekend! This blog is more of a "memorandom for me than anything else,..I think! and this experience is one that I want to remember!!)