Gifts. Andrew Smith. The Angel Potatoes. Granted.

I have been quiet for awhile.
Not because it's been quiet, but because of an embarrassment of riches that I have been glad to cherish, light upon light upon light.
I've told you I have the best job in the world, right?
This is true.
Andrew Smith came to visit the Angel Potatoes last week.
He talks about it here and here.
This was absolutely one of the best days of my life.
I smiled almost all day.
I realized this because my face hurt when I got home.
Here's how it is.
If you get a chance to see Andrew interact with kids, take it.
Andrew gets them.
I loved listening to Andrew talk, and read from his books, and most of all I loved watching my kids watching and listening to Andrew.
It is a Forever Happiness, this memory.
You can't have too many Forever Happinesses.
One of my boys listened to Andrew and then asked Andrew to sign his yearbook.
This is a kid who trusts exactly one adult.
I know because he told me.
So for him to ask Andrew to sign his yearbook?
I saw my boy read what Andrew wrote. He nodded to himself and left the room quiet and coyote-like, because that is how he has learned to be.
Later, he came back and asked me to sign it, too, right next to what Andrew wrote.
This made me cry a little, in a good way.
You know what? Today this young man graduated and I cried again, partly because of relief(he has a gift for pissing off people in Authority and was this close to having his grad participation pulled) and partly because I am going to miss him, and so many others, so very much. Even as it is a gladsome thing to see them fly.
And I realized that the reason Andrew's visit was such a shine and glory was exactly this:
He told the truth. He made them laugh. He gave hope.
Truth.
Laughter.
Hope.
That's a trifecta you sure don't experience often enough.
Thanks, Andrew.
And, in news of the Revolution, I found out that another grant came through and I have another one thousand dollars to buy Good Books for the Underground Library.
Did I mention that I have an embarrassment of riches?