Two weeks ago I had the great privilege of hearing the author, Jeannette Walls speak. She wrote the book The Glass Castle which is a riveting book. In her memoir she writes of her radical and unorthodox childhood; growing up with three sibling and irresponsible parents who manged to not only neglect them, but love them and teach them to face their fears.
I read this book two years ago and it has been a New York Times best-seller for more than three years now. It is currently being made into a movie by Paramount. This was a book that I could not put down. I was so excited when I learned she would be speaking at the convention I was attending.
Ms. Wall's message was about confronting your past and facing your fears. We all have more in common than we think and our flaws are our greatest assets. She spoke that memoirs are very personal and other members of the family don't always view things the same. Much of it has to do with how you choose to view it. It took her years to find the positives from her upbringing and now she embraces it as it has made her the success she is today.
When all was said and done I was finally standing in front of her with my book to be signed. I had noticed that she had written the theme from her talk; "Push and pray," in the books of the people ahead of me in line. As she wrote in my book I told her how much I had enjoyed her memoir and have been sharing with others. She was sincerely touched and thanked me as she handed my book back.
I didn't even think of looking inside my cover until I got to the elevator, and what she had written sent chills down my spine. She had not written in mine what I had seen her put in others; instead she wrote, Peggy, Life is an adventure!
When I told my daughter about it she suggested that I must have mentioned to Ms. Walls that I view life that way, but I absolutely had not said a thing about it--never even occurred to me!
Some people just call it a coincidence, but I believe that it was one of those moments when the spirit of one person senses the spirit in the other and it just plays itself out. God does that often if you just take the time to notice:)
Hope you are having a wonderful day!
