Home Sweet Home!

Well, here we are on Sunday, May 2nd and I have returned safely home! What an outstanding two week adventure. I have SO MANY people to thank for the success of this book tour - I hope I don't leave anyone out - if I do, raise your hand!

First and foremost, I MUST thank Sara Gault of Shilling Elementary School in Salina Kansas. Sara, nearly single handedly, orchestrated this entire trip leaving no stone unturned. She handled the scheduling of school and community visits, publicity, and the acquisition of funding from the Salina Arts and Humanities Commission. Once I arrived in Kansas, Sara made sure that I felt welcome right from the start, introducing me to other teachers and principals in the school district and including me in the daily 4:15 pm "coffee clutch" at the mall! Coffee at 4:15....I don't know Sara, this may be the reason you don't sleep much at night-lol! Sara also made sure I wouldn't get lost while going from school to school by generously driving me around every evening showing me how to get to the next day's schools. We enjoyed some wonderful meals with Tina, Jean, Kathy and Kathleen and a special night out with Sara's family Molly, Ben, Carter and Gage - adorable little boys with excellent restaurant manners :) SARA, you are an amazing woman and I am blessed to be able to call you my friend. I truly hope that when you travel EAST in May, you give me a call and if you are anywhere near me, I will come to see you!

I, of course, want to thank the Salina Arts & Humanities Commission for funding this book tour, with a special thank you to Sharon Benson who, although drowning in preparations for a huge festival coming to Salina in June, found time in her busy schedule to come to my first presentation to enjoy my talk as well as check to see that I had everything I needed....which of course I did. The accommodations were excellent - I couldn't have asked for a more comfortable place to call "home" for two weeks.

Tons of "Thank yous" to the hundreds of students and residents of Salina Kansas who welcomed me so enthusiastically to their schools and organizations! You made me feel so welcome and I so enjoyed speaking with and meeting you. Your questions were always so thoughtful and I am thrilled to have been able to reach so many of you with the story of the Orphan Train Riders. Remember your homework assignment????? Have you found ONE person yet who doesn't know about the orphan trains and taught them everything you learned?? Remember.....250,000 riders are counting on you! (no pressure there, right?)

Muriel Anderson of the Orphan Train Complex in Concordia Kansas did a wonderful job in organizing my book signing at the museum as well as the luncheon at the Huckleberry Tea Room. And I will never forget the kindness shown me by Virginia Alexander who I had met in Kansas back in 2006 and who traveled to the museum to see me again and catch up on everything that has happened in the last four years! You made my day, Virginia!

To two of the BEST FRIENDS a girl could ask for - Donna Brown and Karen Williams - you guys are so special to me! When I would tell people what you were willing to do for me (drive out to KS, then fly back......then fly out to KS and drive back) they always looked at me in amazement and commented along the lines of, "Wow, they are good friends!" I SO enjoyed my time with both of you - I haven't laughed so hard since.....I don't know when! I will be calling you both to set up a time when the three of us can get together and laugh all over again!

A big THANK YOU to my family, Bob, Carlo, James & Estella, who agreed to "let me go" for two weeks and keep things going here at home without me. I know it wasn't easy but I hope you know how much I appreciated it! Thank you MOM & DAD who, although you couldn't come to Kansas with me as originally planned, were with me in spirit - and on the phone - throughout the entire trip. I felt your love and support during every presentation and missed not having you there. And mom....I can't thank you enough for doing all the laundry here at home while I was gone - what a priceless gift!!

Thank you to those who cooked for my family in my absence - Mary, Donna and Mom - thanks to you, no one starved!

Last but certainly not least, I want to thank EVERYONE who followed along with this blog, as well as my Facebook postings, during my book tour. Your blog comments, facebook posts and welcome phone calls kept me company, and made me feel like I wasn't alone on this adventure!

Okay.......... Did I miss anyone? Raise your hand....or post a comment to let me know!

I am posting some pictures that didn't make it onto the daily blog posts - some here on today's post, and the rest tomorrow. Then I'll be taking a few days off from blogging to get things back in order here at home before resuming my posts on the orphan train movement and individual rider stories. I hope you'll continue to follow along :)

Until next time.........

DAY #5 - Let The Talking Begin!

Thankfully I finally got a decent night's sleep on Sunday, just in time, too, since today was go, go, go! I visited Oakdale Elem. for two presentations; one to 5th grade and one to 3rd graders. The kids were fantastic and had read all of the first two books and part of Peanut Butter For Cupcakes so they were very prepared to soak up everything I had to tell them and they had great questions to boot! The 3rd graders had even written me thank you letters telling me what part of Oliver's story they liked best. General consensus: the story of Little Red the piglet that Oliver couldn't bring himself to kill but instead cared for as a pet, was the best. It's a wonderful lesson in compassion.

I was also pleased, while at Oakdale, to have the chance to meet Sharon Benson from the Salina Arts & Humanities Commission, the organization that is sponsoring my trip.

After a quick lunch, I headed out to Cottonwood Elementary School to talk with 4th graders who although had not had a chance to read the first book yet, were very curious about what I had to say and especially enjoyed hearing Oliver's tape recording of life in a sodhouse - complete with rats nibbling on his toes in the night! It was a great visit and I even had a chance to use a "smart board" for the first time. What will they come up with next??? Chalk is definitely "old school" at this point I'm afraid!

At 4:00 I met my hosts at the mall for a peach smoothie......yes, I had to know everything that was in it before I would try it....and frankly the sugar content kept me going until....well, I'm still going and it's 11:25 pm.

After dinner and a quick tour of where tomorrow's schools are located, I visited the Eaglecrest Retirement Community (pictures above) where I was greeted by a very warm and welcoming crowd of active seniors who made me feel right at home. In fact, in a few years, I'll probably come back and move in!

It is not lost on me that today, April 19th, is the 16th anniversary of Oliver Nordmark's passing. There are no coincidences....Love you Granddad, I hope I'm doing your story justice :)

That's all for today....See you tomorrow!