Hold On

After I wrote The Thing About Dreams last week, I went through every Sweet Pickles book on the shelf looking for that slip of paper I remembered from that day in our old living room.  I am very visual. I could see it in my mind.  I could see the paper hitting the dark wood floors of the house where my daughter was young.  I knew in my heart that the paper had fallen out of a Sweet Pickles book…but I couldn’t find it.  Instead I took this picture of the inside cover of one of the books and used that for the image in my post:

Today is my first day back from the Type-A Parent Conference, my favorite blogging conference of the year because it is the weekend that feeds my soul, inspires me to write, recharges my completely overworked mom batteries.  The last speaker of the weekend was Rene Syler from Good Enough Mother, and one of the things she said that I loved most and tweeted out (and clung to in my heart while she continued to speak) was this…

“I will not fail…unless I quit.”

I came home ready to work.  I also came home to the one full week of the summer with no childcare.

So today we slept in, we snuggled in bed watching the Disney Channel in our jammies, we all worked together to make lunch, we killed some bad guys on Super Mario Bros., and then we took turns playing the piano, first my son, then my daughter, then me.   I cannot remember the last time I played the piano.  It’s been several weeks. At least.

And I wanted to sing. I dug deep down and found some old Broadway show books, pulling out the Secret Garden so that I could sing If I Had a Fine White Horse” to my daughter who had joined me on the piano bench.  I do a horrible British accent, but she loves it anyway.  I do a horrible job of singing the notes on the page, but she claps at the end regardless.

I opened the book.  It opened to a page with a paper stuck inside.  It opened to the song “Hold On,” which is meant to be played urgently and which starts,

What you’ve got to do is finish what you have begun.  I don’t know just how, but it’s not over ’till you’ve won.

And the paper stuck inside?

“I will not fail….unless I quit.”

 

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17 Comments

  • Your hand of God moment if ever there was one. Wow!!! xo

    • I occasionally shivered and goosebumped for a solid hour afterward.

  • The Secret Garden is one off my favorite musicals ever.

    • I love that what you got out of this post is that The Secret Garden is a great show.

  • Oh, that is so fabulous. The Universe is speaking to you. No, it’s shouting. Also, especially bummed that I skipped out on TypeA this year.

    • I tend to ignore the universe and have been known to need a good thunk on the head to get it. This was a pretty loud one. And next year, Kim!!

  • It’s a — wait for it — CONNECTION! Whoa!

  • Not surprised AT ALL!!! Thanks for sharing this amazing moment! Now go out there and WIN! 🙂

  • There is no such thing as random. Clearly you were meant to find this paper on this day after this weekend. Wow.
    By the way, side note totally, but I, too, had the Sweet Pickles books as a child. Yet another reason I know I like you! 🙂

  • Maybe they were residual ones from the Sunday morning session, but that made me drop a few tears. Rene really struck a nerve in all of us, huh? I’m so excited to see what’s in your future, Amy. I think that book deal is closer than you may think.

  • Well, look there! I believe in signs, I believe there are no coincidences, I believe we feed each other, and I believe it’s all unfolding as it should. You got what you give so many others and I for one can say I’m so darn glad to know ya’! Hang on my white sister who can bust a move..

    XO

  • Um WOW! A very pure sign. Love it so much.

  • A.Smith

    God’s faith in you and the multitude of people your words will help is without question 🙂

  • So sweet!!!!