This is my mom holding a copy of her newest grandchild ME WITH YOU.
Mom is currently on vacation in Destin, FL. But do you know what she has been doing every day since she arrived? She has been visiting bookstores to see if she can find a copy of ME WITH YOU on the shelves. Is this some kind of mother or what?
THIS is the mother who, before I had an agent, received emails from me with explicit instructions on how to fold, or not to fold, and what order to place things in an envelope, and who, with joy in her heart, mailed out all my submissions from her SC address because I live overseas and have an unreliable mail system. And she never once complained.
THIS is the same mother, who when she came home after a long day of work and checked her mail, would call me immediately to tell me we’d received another rejection, or thank God, an acceptance, BEFORE she got a snack. Heck, probably before she even peed.
THIS is the same mother who every time that I asked her how much I owed her for the submissions she had sent out on my behalf, hemmed and hawed and couldn’t remember and said it wasn’t important.
THIS is the mother who believed in me when I was too afraid to believe in myself.
And this is the stepfather who is just as excited as my mother.
ME WITH YOU is about grandparents and I had a teary-eyed, sniffly moment the other day when I realized that my first book, this celebration of the grandparent/grandchild relationship, would be coming out the week of the anniversary of my own father’s death. My daddy died 24 years ago today. My own children never knew the love of my sweet daddy. They did not know their own maternal grandfather. But as you can see from the pictures above, they are not lacking for love. They are not lacking for people who celebrate them for who they are and who love them unconditionally. If my mom and stepdad are as happy as they are to see this book on the shelves of a bookstore, you can only imagine how much more they love and celebrate my children.
I could not be more blessed.
Edited to add: DON’T FORGET THE CONTEST! We’ve already had a winner on the first sighting but I’ll be drawing a name from everyone who sends me a picture thereafter up until June 15th!
Kristy Dempsey 
Oh, honey.
Yes, honey.
Lots of love there. :>)
Yep, LOTS of love.
OK, I don’t think I’m supposed to cry this much on vacation but you’ve done it again. I couldn’t be prouder if I did have a new grandchild…well, maybe a little…but still, I’m very proud. I love the book of course, because you wrote it, but I love it more because of the five grandchildren that it reminds me of. All my grandchildren have always lived away from the city where I live, but we’ve managed to maintain a very special relationship in spite of distance. Thank you Kristy for honoring that relationship with this book. I love it and am proud of you AND all five of my grandangels. Love you, Mom (it’s ok that you posted the photo even if I did forget my hairdryer and my hair looks a little like hubba hubba :-).
Your hair looks fine.
I love it!
*raises a can of Dr. Pepper*
To your mom!!!!
Whoo-hoo! (Man. Now I want a Dr. Pepper.)
Your mother is sweet. She reminds me of what my father did when I had my first article published…and would have done if he’d been around when my cover story was published…and would have done if he’d been around for any other possible successes… *sniff*
Hugs.
Oh, so sweet. It’s so nice to be loved.
Awwwww…any mother who opens the mail and calls before he pees deserves an award or something.
So glad they found their baby in a store to ooh and ahh over. 🙂
Yes. Lots of awards!
I love a story with a happy ending. Congratulations, to you and yours.
Thank you! Happy endings are truly happy when shared by so many who love you.
Aw, this is so beautiful and touching. Yay for your mom!
She’s a great mom!
What a touching story. I’m sure you’re even more anxious to tour the states now so you can share everything in person. Kudos to mom/stepdad.
I am! Can’t wait to “tour”!
Yay for moms!
Yes, ma’am, indeed.
They’re great peeps, aren’t they? They just keep making me cry with how much they love me.
Oh, how blessed you are, indeed! What a wonderful, supportive family. Congratulations!
Awww . . . how cute are they? So, so cute! You’re lucky to have such supportive parents.
Congratuations!
I am so happy for you and hope that your book enjoys much success. Congrats on your new book baby!