Bezalel Books, and Boys in Bow Ties

This morning, I arose wondering what--if anything--I should blog about, and I decided that I'd probably go back into the photo archives and find an adorable picture of one or more of my sons from Christmases past to share with you.  (I never get tired of those.)  I can always think of some story to tell about those boys of mine, who have always been--along with their father--my favorite main characters in the book of life.  (Pretty deep, eh?)

But then as I was waiting for my coffee to brew, I did a quick e-mail check on my iPhone and saw that Cheryl Dickow, author and dedicated president of Bezalel Books (the small Catholic company through which my novel Finding Grace was published), had sent me a note.  She told me that successful Catholic publisher and author Nancy Carabio Belanger (Olivia and the Little Way, Olivia's Gift) had written a wonderful blog article about Bezalel, and in it she mentioned my book along with several other titles under Bezalel's imprint.

Cheryl asked me to share the article if I wished, using any social media I have available.  So if you can spare a few minutes and you'd like to read an inspirational article about some truly amazing people who are working behind the scenes to make sure that the voices of Catholic writers can be heard, just click here.

That article is longer than most of my blog posts, so I'll close now.  But before I do, I just thought I'd share this gem from Christmas 1993.  (Sorry, I couldn't help myself!)

Oh my gosh, this picture is a hoot!  I remember this now!  We were on our way over to our Catholic grade school for the annual Christmas concert and pageant.  Parents had been instructed that all the boys should wear white shirts and green bow ties, and not knowing where in the world I would find green bow ties (remember, this was back before on-line shopping had become a regular part of life), I whipped up some homemade ones out of satin ribbon for sons #1 and #3.  Son #4, who was just a pre-schooler at the time, was not going to be in the performance; but not one to be left out, he insisted on having a tie just like his older brothers--and I think it looks rather sharp with his striped polo shirt, don't you?  Son #2 is wearing a bathrobe instead of a bow tie because he had a starring role that year (I can't remember if he was Joseph or a shepherd).  And lest you feel sorry for son #5, he was indeed with us when I snapped this photo.  He was about a month away from making his grand entrance into the world--but he was there I assure you, making my belly even rounder than Santa's that Christmas.

Well, that was--as always--a fun trip down memory lane for me.  Thanks for coming along.