January 26: Book Launch Milkshakes

I thought Tuesday was a big day, but yesterday was one of the biggest most wonderful days of my life.

Tuesday my book officially became available, and that was surreal and exciting to see people’s pictures as they held their pre-ordered copies. To celebrate the day we made milkshakes, commemorating the moment so many years ago when I first asked Sarah for more spoken language and she slowly said, “mmm…k….sh…..k.” Now that is one of Sarah’s favorite moments to recreate, cracking herself up as she pretends to be her four-year-old self. Tuesday was hugely exciting, but also felt like a regular day – a regular day where it was so cold the kids were home for virtual school, and I slowly helped Sarah do her homework in between our naps. I was glad we had canceled swimming to celebrate the book’s publication because there was no way I wanted us out in such frigid air with wet heads.

The official book launch event took place yesterday at Penguin Bookshop in Sewickley, PA. Knowing some of the people who were planning to be there, I was already feeling teary before I arrived. Imagine filling a room with people from all of the different parts of your life, knowing they are all there because they care about you and your family. One of Sarah’s preschool teachers was there, as was the teacher who was with her from 5th-8th grade, as was someone from her current school. Amy’s besties and the parents of those besties were there. The parents of some of Sarah’s friends came, as did some of my past students, clients, and colleagues. Some volunteers, plus Sonia and her partner, our sitter Anna, Sarah’s bus driver, Sarah’s piano teacher, and friends from all different places and connections were in attendance.

Jenny reading from her book

The bookstore had a small stage where the kids sat next to penguin stuffed animals. Next to that there were chairs for the rest of the audience, but the bookstore hosts kept having to bring in more chairs as people kept arriving. Then they ran out of seats, and people had to stand. By my side I had my dear friend Elizabeth whom I have known since our first day of college and whose thoughtful questions helped my book come into being. She wrote a wonderful blurb for my book, and facilitated the launch event by asking me questions to help me share everything with the audience. The whole experience flowed easily and well. I felt loved, supported, and listened to. It was incredible. I was surprised by the things that got me all choked up so that I could barely say the words I meant to say. When I read the excerpt about the milkshake moment, Sarah helped me say “mmm…k…sh….k” and then she went back to reading my book (mostly) silently. The evening was filled with laughter, tears, hugs, and gigantic smiles. The bookstore sold out of the supply they had ordered, but luckily I had a box of books in my trunk, as I had been advised to do by authors who are steps ahead of me in this whole process. The bookstore bought all that I had! Carl was my photographer and took care of everything pertaining to the extra books so that I could focus on signing and talking with people.

Jenny sitting at a table, signing a book and smiling Amy, Jenny, Sarah, and Carl in front of a wall decorated with a tree. Jenny is holding her book, and everyone is smiling.

After the launch was done we went out to dinner at Eat N’ Park with a handful of friends who feel like family. When Sarah was little and we did anything to get calories into her, Eat N’ Park milkshakes were an important part of her diet. Now that she largely has to avoid dairy, those milkshakes aren’t an option, but she was just as happy with lemonade. Once we were home I expected to fall into an exhausted sleep, but instead I felt completely abuzz with energy. It took a very long time to fall asleep and then, once I woke in the middle of the night, it took a loooooong time to fall asleep again. I still feel all revved up, but in the best way.

If you came to the launch, thank you so very much! If you wanted to, but couldn’t make it, thank you for wanting to be there! For any of you who read my book, if you are so inclined, it would be incredibly helpful if you could write a review on Amazon and Goodreads. You don’t have to say a lot, just a line about what you thought or felt. Reviews help a book get higher up in the list of suggested books when someone searches for something related. Given the number of new books coming out weekly, it is like trying to get a little raft noticed in the middle of a big ocean, but the more reviews there are then the bigger that raft looks. My hope is that the book can help people with the experience of dealing with challenging moments in life, especially if those challenging moments involve parenting, and especially if those parents might be feeling alone while crying in the kitchen. I want to help them climb aboard the life raft. I do truly hope it is a story that can have a broad appeal since we all have moments of meeting our emotional edge and wishing we handled something differently. It’s important to know you can be that humanly imperfect and still make a difference, whatever your situation may be.

Thank you all for being a part of this incredible journey.

 

 

 

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