Tonight I start checking the interior proof of Of Grief, Garlic and Gratitude, which arrived on Friday. I will be checking it online, but a physical copy of it will arrive in the next day or two, so then I will hold it in my hands.

When it arrived on Friday, I opened the file for a little peak, and what I saw made tears stream down my cheeks. Many of you know that Sam had a favorite necklace, one of hemp twine, with the most beautiful tree of life pendant on it. He wore it for years, and he planned to get a tattoo of that tree on his 21st birthday, but he didn’t live to see that day. Both my husband and I got that tattoo for Sam, in his memory, the December after he died.

When I submitted cover ideas to the publisher for this book, I had given them a photo of that pendant. Imagine my surprise when I opened the proof of the book and saw that tree denotes the changing of chapters. It is so, so beautiful. So, yes, I cried. I sat and looked at that tree, saw how their choice of font enhances my words, and the beauty and “perfectness” of it made me emotional.

I took a couple days away from the file, needing time to get ready to look over the proof in the detail it requires. Now, I am ready.