Every little day
Three deaths in three months, and the year that turned into. On buying a publishing house in the middle of grief, and the flowers that came after the rain.
Welcome to my first blog, my first blog EVER! What a good time of year to launch a blog, at a time where we are all reflective and grateful, please enjoy our upcoming blogs and I hope we share something that speaks to you. Here goes!
When I was a child, I remember walking to school on a rainy day looking at the world through a clear, plastic umbrella with the words, "In Every Life A Little Rain Must Fall" printed in purple ink right at my five-year-old eye level. My young mind thought, "Of course, it would be a very dry world without rain." Until 2016, I never really knew what that phrase really meant.
In January of 2016, my father-in-law died very suddenly two weeks after Christmas. Three days after his funeral my father passed away suddenly on the evening of my daughter's birthday (after she was in bed thankfully). I was devastated, completely broken. I had never felt such physical pain through grief. One month later, my grandfather died. Some rain was falling... and falling hard....
Death makes a person look at life a little differently. I realized it was time to do something I had always wanted to do but never had the courage to try...my own business. Literally, on the way back from my father's memorial service in April, I discovered a company I had been freelancing for was going for sale because the owner was going to retire. My husband encouraged me to jump. I jumped.
I closed on May 31 and have been running full speed ever since. I have never looked back. Over the past two years, I have been fortunate enough to work every day with one of my closest friends. My company has won awards. We have had national media attention. We have had local media attention. I have made mistakes and I have learned from them.
I am continuing to learn... a lot. I have laughed (and of course shed a few tears) and most of all, I have met amazing authors who have brought me true joy and will stay a part of my life, always.
So, this Thanksgiving I am thankful, truly, honestly, thankful for the rain in my life two years ago because without the rain I would not have today's flowers. There will always be rain and there will always, always be flowers following the rain. Some days you still have to look a bit through the grass to find them but others they will be standing six feet tall.
THANK YOU to our Warren Publishing family past, present and future you are the flowers after the rain.