(This entry on our family blog should have been entered a month back…sorry that I delayed.)
I’m so excited! For quit some time, years that is, I’ve had thoughts rambling in my head of ideas the Kempiak Party of Five does around our home that I could write as possible entries to my all-time favorite magazine, Family Fun. Finally one day, after getting an email requesting readers to submit ideas on traditions families do for Father’s Day, I felt the good Lord nudge me and say, “Do it now!” I didn’t do my normal, hem and haw, look over my to-do list and see it too full already then put this “new” thing on the backburner, I just did like the Nike commercials used to say and “just did it!” On the spot, without much time, I wrote an article and hit “send” even without my extra set of trusty eyes (Jon) to see, comment, and edit.
Not more than a couple of days passed and I got an email from the editor saying I was “in” for June’s issue. After a few correspondences including sending photos of my kids and them asking me some questions, my contract (yes…it’s that official) was signed and a check for $100 dollars was in the mail for me, the family “author”. Vwalah! So cool!
Skip forward a couple months to the end of May when I was walking out of the kids’ school after volunteering, when two families stopped me saying pretty much the same thing, “Hey, I loved your little blurb in the magazine”. That was my first inkling that the magazine was “out” for distribution. Before going home, we stopped by our neighborhood mailboxes to find our box without the magazine. Ugh! We entered the house, hearing a few more comments on our voice mail, similar to those on the school’s campus. Can I say TORTURE, pure torture to not have it in my hands, my very first “published” entry? We had church that night and got out late, but as we drove past a supermarket, I decided to stop in and peruse the magazine stands. There it was edited down to the editor’s liking, leaving me with “understanding” on why people kept referring to my article as blurb. Laugh out loud!
Here’s what I wrote for those that don’t have the magazine: Ever since birth, my children have always had a special tradition, "just for dad" that really pulls at my husband's heartstrings. Each year, near Father's Day, I take each child (now 3 of them) outdoors for an individual photo shoot. My children always wear the same shirt each year, the shirt their daddy wore in the hospital delivery room when they were born, (which means 3 shirts total, one per child). The kids just "swim" in these shirts and really get silly taking the photos, but it doesn't matter, it's the delight of my husband watching his "loves" grow before his eyes and a very special reminder of how quickly they grow. It's very sentimental! He has photos from his first "holding" all the way to recent years. His plan, without the kids knowing, is to break the outdated, cherished shirt out at their wedding receptions to have a special "dance" and photo opportunity with each. There won’t be a dry eye in the room, I’m sure.
Well now I have the bug. I want to write more. I want more $100 checks in the mail with MY name on them. But even though the desire is there, I’ve so far resorted to my old ways of hemming and hawing, looking over my to-do list and seeing it too full already, putting this “new idea/passion” on the backburner. Someone snap me out of it!
