Fun fact that not many people know,
my grandmother wrote a children’s book and I’m in it.
My eight-year-old self has a photo on the back of the book + one of the characters is based on me.
Shocking, huh!?
Since my grandmother passed in June this year, I’ve inherited the book & all it’s rights. When I learned this information, I decided the first thing I was going to do was offer it as a fundraising opportunity for our adoption.
It’s a Christmas story, so I specifically wanted to wait for the Christmas season so people could snuggle up and enjoy this book that my grandmother wrote and illustrated. After all, she specifically made it a landscape sized book so it would cozily fit in a lap.
Mimi’s Gift a fictional story based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania during WW2 where Mimi, a Moravian (one of the oldest protestant denominations in Christianity, dating back to the 1400s) eight-year-old girl prepares for Christmas. As Christmas approaches, she’s confronted with a couple problems, including not being able to afford a gift for the church’s Christmas offering. Focusing on the meaning of faith, join Mimi as she prepares for Christmas and creatively uses her resources to solve her problems.
My grandma wrote this book in the early 2000s and I vividly remember her sitting at her computer desk while I played in their bedroom. She was surrounded by papers and the clicking of her keyboard was loud. Drawings she had done herself covered the dresser and she would read me bits and pieces while asking my opinion.
I also remember my mom and aunt proofreading it multiple times and talk of publishers, due dates and the moment my grandma held the first hardcopy in her hands.
At her funeral, I spoke about these memories and I was surprised to remember I began writing during those days (her at her desk and me on her bed). There’s a good chance my love for writing was birthed in those moments of watching my grandmother pursue this dream. She made this far-fetched desire look obtainable.
In the years following, she did hundreds of book signings, signing every copy and telling me the stories of the people she had met. She even wrote a second book set at Easter time.
When you get the book, look out for little Ruth – she’s the character that is based after me. 😉
Whether you gift it or treasure it on your own shelf, my desire it that it brings you extra joy every holiday season. My grandma was adamant this book was her legacy and she wanted everyone to know that work follows faith.
If you’d like a copy, please fill out this form –