Leaving 1203

It's a Hot SUMMER But Leaving 1203 Is Staying Cool

I’m enjoying working with the weather while traveling with Leaving 1203. Yes! to balmy Florida in February and warm March ocean breezes in North Carolina. This summer New England beckons and book events await in New Hampshire. 2019 Fall planning is every bit as much fun as it was in 2018 when Leaving 1203 winged itself into the world.

Is there a more overused yet underappreciated word than kindness? If there’s one thing that stands out during these nine months of book talks, it is surely the power of kindness. Everywhere I’ve traveled, from brewery to history museum, outside homes for play and inside churches for prayer, kindness rules. Talking about home and the meaning of good living brings out the best in people who rejoice in the respite from tough times in this country. Let’s hear it for simple pleasures! How about a little cornhole and a cookout? Laughter erases frowns as stories of home make friends of strangers. Hey, let’s keep in touch. Yo! Remember to send me that recipe. You’re kidding—you know my sister?

What’s the value of talking about days gone by? Readers tell me repeatedly that the good living espoused in the book serves them well as a guide to refashioning their lives here and now. It gives permission to reconsider and reflect on priorities and what matters most. I must say that Leaving 1203 rekindles my hope and resolve every day—if my family survived the Depression and WWII, I gotta get a move on.