My Journey

Today was my birthday party and I had an absolutely wonderful day! Not only did a lot of my close family get to attend, I also got the best gift ever from my grandparents and their close friend, Kathy.
They kept Kathy’s identity from me, telling me it was a secret and I didn’t really know the person - which was true. Then they told me I had to open their gift last, which made me nervous in itself. The card had a picture of me with the first draft of my novel and talked about me beginning my journey as a writer. And that this gift was only the beginning. This made me extremely nervous. I then tore the wrapping paper off to find an Apple box - I was quickly informed that it was not a laptop.  I soon found it to be this:

A book of things I had written. It has a dust jacket and everything! On the inside flap it even has this:

More to my emotional rollercoaster, this is on the first page:

My Mommy with the description from “Ten Long Years”, which I wrote in memoriam of her being gone ten years. The very first page, and I’m crying. In front of everybody.
As you flip through the book, you find things that I’ve written - even things from my blog, like “The War Sucks. Majorly”. Proof:

There are even pictures of Jimmy - which made me cry more.

After I had gone through the whole book, I found that there’s even a picture of me on the back flap.

I gave my grandma a hug and many thanks adding a “Why didn’t you tell me not to wear mascara? This isn’t waterproof!”. And I hugged Kathy and Papaw. It meant so much because I think I realized that maybe my dream really is achievable. And it’s obvious that no matter how alone I feel in my journey, I’m definitely not. I have so many wonderful people to support me.
One of which is probably reading this and I should definitely mention him. My Uncle Chris - oh my gosh I love this man! He’s Jimmy’s dad and he’s every bit as much as close to my heart as Jimmy is. He has supported me and he keeps up with my blog - how cool is that? - and he’s the one that took me for my first motorcycle ride. He’s such a great guy and today I went over to him after opening my book - that just sounds amazing! - and said “A lot of that was written for your son” when I realized he was crying. It made me cry. Uncle Chris, I love you. Thank you for everything you do and everything you’ve done, and everything you will do.
Mamaw, Papaw, and Kathy, thank you so much for putting so much time and effort into this project. I honestly still cannot believe that you did this for me. I love you all so much and…What can I say? I’m speechless.
I’m so blessed and I really don’t notice that enough. I’m so, so blessed to have such a wonderful family. I thank God for everything I have - and everything I hope to achieve.
With eternal love and blessings,
Officially Inspired