We got to Russo’s a little early to get ready for tonight’s Rad Dad reading and meet up with anthology editor Tomás Moniz. Looking out at the rows of empty folding chairs, I started to get a little nervous. What if no one came?
But as we got started and Russo’s Thomas Robinson, who I met so many years ago when he was “Mister Thomas” and I was taking The Pumpkin to bookstore storytimes, introduced the event and Tomás, local writer Nick Belardes and I read, I looked out at the rows of chairs and got choked up.
Not because the seats were empty, but because they were full. Full of our friends and their children. We never thought that, eight years after moving here, we’d still be here, but those faces are why. These are the faces in the photos of our children’s birthday parties. These are the children our children are growing up with, like siblings. These are the friends who are the family we choose, who come out on a Thursday night to a book reading to support a friend.
I cannot write the words to express my gratitude.
[photos by Tomás Moniz]
We had fun. We enjoy your writing, and we are still waiting for you to write a children’s book.