Jaden’s Gift

Jul 13, 2024

I have said many times just how blessed I am with the interactions I have with people when I set up weekly at my local farmer’s market to sell my books. My sales total fluctuates from week to week and I have never had a no sale day. I sell to new readers of my work, loyal readers , and family and friends who I think sometimes buy out of obligation (not pity I hope). I have curious buyers, people who buy on recommendation from others and sometimes a cover or title will catch someone’s eye. I have people who return to the table and buy a second book when possibly they haven’t even read the first one. I have even had people buy the whole set of thirteen titles on one visit. I have had people who say they didn’t like a book or were taken aback by something in one. All kinds of people stop by and talk. I have been asked silly , stupid and even offensive questions. I have been dismissed and completely ignored. That all comes with the territory. But it has been my experience that every single week I get at least one interaction that is genuine, touching and soul filling. Today I had just such an interaction with a woman from Alberta named Cindy who was visiting her friend. The conversation began when her friend pointed out one of my books that she had purchased awhile ago. She truthfully admitted she hadn’t read it. I started my spiel about where each book was set and in doing so zeroed in on the book her friend hadn’t read, explaining how I arrived at needing to write it. I do not know how long our conversation was but it zigged and zagged and took us over a lot of emotional ground. Eyes filled with tears and eventually the connection was made over the fact that we both were teachers. That was great but it didn’t stop there. Cindy had decided she was buying The Year Mrs. Montague Cried and in her hand she held a folded twenty dollar bill. She went on to tell me that in June one of her students had wanted to give her money for an end of year gift. Cindy contacted the girl’s mom voicing her discomfort about taking money from the child. The mom explained just how badly Jaden wanted to give her teacher that money and how much it meant to her daughter. Cindy accepted the gift. She told Jaden that she would keep it in a special spot in her wallet and when she found just the right thing to buy with it she would use that twenty dollar bill to purchase it. Tears were shed as I opened a copy of The Year Mrs. Montague Cried, a book about one teacher making a huge impact in a student’s life, and signed it to another teacher who made a meaningful connection with a grade three girl, named Jaden.

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