Launch Party!

On Thursday, Where the Sidewalk Ends (one of the two independent bookstores in my small town–we’re so lucky here!) hosted a most fabulous launch party for LEFT NEGLECTED. The store was all decked out in lights, red apples, and more copies of my book than I could count! Here’s a photo of the wonderful women from Where the Sidewalk Ends who made it all happen.

A special and heartfelt thank you to Joanne and Caitlin Doggart, the store’s owners (the two lovely ladies to my left). I had a blast sharing this night with so many close friends, family, and enthusiastic readers from the Cape and beyond.

And when I say beyond, I’m not kidding. The highlight of the night for me was meeting Mike and his family who drove 10 hours from Canada to come to this event!

It was almost two years ago. I had only written about 50 pages of LEFT NEGLECTED when I received my first email from Mike. His sister Karyn had come across my website–and my request for help in better understanding what it’s like to experience Left side Neglect. In January 2007, Mike suffered a stroke on the right side of his brain. He now lives with Left Neglect.

We talked on the phone and emailed many times. In these conversations, Mike candidly shared his Left Neglect stories with me—the challenges, his goals, his strategies for adapting, what he’s lost, what he’s gained, and the humor he often finds in living with this condition. I also spoke and emailed with his wife, Sue, about all the same things but from her perspective. They taught me so much about Left Neglect–far more than I could ever have learned from any of the text books.

So it was an extraordinary gift to meet Mike and his wife and sister in person on Thursday. I can’t thank them enough for making the long journey to Chatham from Canada (and then back!). At one point during the evening, Mike said to me, “It’s been so difficult trying to explain what I have to people. Now I can give them a copy of your book, and they’ll understand.”

Thank you again, Mike. It doesn’t get any more rewarding that that.