The Greatest Honor

 

That is not the ocean.

It is Lake Michigan.  

After over four years, we were finally able to visit Michigan.  My sister and brother-in-law now live in the Grand Rapids area, as do my sister's daughter and son.

When last we visited, Carol had one grandchild.  Bailey, just under a year old, was her daughter Tiffany and Derek's young daughter, precocious and charming.

That has now grown to four grandchildren! 

Just like these baby geese we saw in Holland, Michigan, Carol's grandchild brood keeps growing...

...and growing! Now at FOUR (including Tiffany's second daughter, Morgan).

I can't begin to tell you what a wonderful, refreshing visit it was.

But, for me, personally, there was an extraordinary moment, an incredible honor, that I will cherish the rest of my life.

As shy as I am, most of you know that I can be quite the ham on stage. Whether good or bad, it gives me the rough equivalent of a runner's high when I hit the right zone.

I love reading aloud.  I love reading stories to children.  During the pandemic, I started Storytime with Mr. Tom, posting a few YouTube videos.  Like most of my creative attempts, it met with quite a thud.  Are they good or bad?  I can't tell because they're just not been - I am terrible at self-promotion.

But my grandnieces and grandnephews saw them, and their reaction and the reaction of their parents seem to be positve.

Other than that, they were pretty unwatched, so I got discouraged and stopped doing them.

But Nicholas, Carol's son, the proud father of two boys, Elijah and Evan, remembered.

When we came to his house for a get-together, we hadn't sat down long when he brought out a children's book and asked if I would read to the children after dinner.

Would I do that? I threw all shyness and hesitancy aside and said, of course, I would!

Who are these people?  My sister Carol, with Evan on her lap, me with the Cena book in my hands, Elijah, Tiffany with Morgan on her lap, Bailey, Tiffany's husband, Derek.  Alison is at the table, with Benjamin who is holding Carol's dog, Ellie.  At the kitchen counter is Carol's husband, Mike, and her son, Nick.  Behind the camera is Elijah and Even's mom, Kristen.

It was a book by John Cena (yeah - the actor) and featured eight different characters.

Did I do the best rendition ever done?

I don't know.  Probably not.  But what I do know is this -

I had a blast.  I got into the zone and felt that runner's high.  I let it rip, no hint of shyness, changing up and doing voices, highlighting every word I could.

I was afraid that one or more of them might get bored, start to squirm, or leave.  But they sat riveted, engrossed in the story I was telling.

Thank you, Nick, for offering me this moment.

It was the greatest moment, one I will cherish forever.

I can't wait to get back up to Michigan again.