My 60th birthday surprise

My 60th birthday surprise was going to a book signing event. The title of the book was The Shortest Distance Between Two Points, and the author who was to sign copies of her new book was ME! My daughters, Carrie and Aly, conspired to take my written account of Leo’s and my 1997 Chinese adventure and put it into book form. Thanks to an internet publishing site and their time and effort 20 books were shipped to my sister’s for Thanksgiving. They surprised me with the copies of the book waiting to be signed.
The source of the book’s contents came from all my journal entries and emails from our year in Shanghai which were compiled into a travel journal. In 2002 I signed up for a writing class with the teacher that Dan, my journalist stepson, had taken a class from a few years earlier. It was during that class that I decided to turn the travelogue into a memoir.
Writing the memoir took about a year. Two months after my writing class finished we moved from Chicago to Seattle. I had promised myself that after we got settled into our new home I would try to find a publisher. Eight rejection slips later I happily put the two hundred plus pages of my memoir along with my writing class notes into a box which I ceremoniously carried down to the basement. Writing became more and more infrequent as Leo and I filled our time with outdoor activities, the main reason for moving to Seattle, and teaching part time at Seattle Central Community College.
Another activity that kept me busy was visiting our kids on the other side of the country as they transitioned into roles of spouses and, in the past year, parents. I had the opportunity to be present at Carrie’s son’s birth and Alyson’s daughter’s birth. We traveled to New Hampshire to meet Pablo Jose Gorenstein after Dan and his wife brought their six month-old adoptive son from Guatamala. Last September I was in Brooklyn babysitting 20 month old Rami while Carrie delivered her daughter.
And as most of you already know, last month I was at my sister’s when she brought her husband Rich home from the hospital and called in hospice. It had started with a pressure sore and when respiratory problems multiplied, he grew weaker. He died October 5th and I stayed until the 16th . It was hard to leave her, but I knew I would be back in a month for Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving has become our family’s primary holiday. Not all of us celebrate Christmas. Besides, I became disillusioned with this hectic holiday many years ago. And since Thanksgiving centers around food and family, it seemed logical for all of us to make the effort to travel to Florida, Chicago or the past two years, Deb and Rich’s in Missouri. This year we were keeping it simple, food-wise. No gourmet stuffing, no ethnic offerings, no exotic foodstuffs. This was the year of the grandbabies, all four of them, all under two years of age. Carrie, Dan and Aly and their spouses and kids were going to be invading Debby’s house a few days before turkey day, and no one wanted to be in the kitchen and miss the entertainment in the living room.
We were all hoping that Debby’s house could handle the onslaught. With two bedrooms and a loft upstairs and a backroom downstairs all three families would have their privacy. Equipment-wise, Debby was prepared with two pac-n-plays, a booster seat, one high chair and two air mattresses. The baby equipment was generously loaned to Debby from the neighbor across the street. (Cindy and her husband are a unique pair who have been foster parents to over 20 kids.)
Even though everyone had their own space, Leo and I thought a back up plan was necessary so we also got a motel room for a couple of nights. We figured it could be used as a good “time out” room for babies, their parents or grandparents.
Before I left for Missouri I called Aly with a request. She was the family member who usually organized something for my birthday which was on the Sunday after Thanksgiving.
“Aly, this year I don’t want my birthday to be a big deal.” I explained to her that it was such a gift that everyone could be there, but that Rich’s absence would be strongly felt. I just didn’t want too much commotion centered around me. She agreed with me and added that she and Whitey, and Dan and Erica would be going home the day before my birthday. So I figured I’d just get a few birthday cards, the usual check from Mom and maybe a present from Deb.
On Friday after Thanksgiving, when Debby and I returned from Walgreen’s after buying a humidifier for a congested baby, Carrie was at the gate. She was holding Rami who was dressed in a velvet suit and holding a bouquet of flowers.
“Susan Carrel, we welcome you. It’s almost time for the big event. Everyone…Susan has arrived. We can begin.!”
Hmmhmm…those kids! They had probably put together a “This is your Life” skit like they did for my 50th. But as I walked through the gate, I spotted a large sign. “Book Signing Event here today. Author Susan K. Carrel will sign copies of her book, “The Shortest Distance Between Two Points.” As I walked into the house and saw a small table with books on it, I thought “Wow, they’ve made covers to go on books so I can pretend I’m signing my book. I saw my picture on the book’s jacket, and when I opened it up I read, “Chapter 1…So did you go to Woodstock, Mom?...”
“Wha…how did you get this?” I sort of stammered. This was the beginning of the memoir I had finished my last year in Chicago. Leo looked at me with a devilish smile.
“Every time you hinted that I didn’t know how to use the computer, I was laughing on the inside.”
“You mean you found my writing, attached to an email and sent it to Carrie and Aly?”
“Even scanned in a few pictures and sent them to Carrie, too. She put it together.”
“And Aly designed the cover,” Carrie added, pointing to a geometry figure overlapped by a map of the world with the silhouette of a bicycle on it.
“Try that algebra problem on the back, Mom,” Aly said, pointing under the picture of Leo and me.
I read out loud, “A cyclist travels from A to B over a high pass, C. Her average speed going up the his is 9 km/h…”
I couldn’t contain myself any longer. “I love it! I love it! I love it! ” I squawked, jumping up and down like a kid at Chuckee Cheese.
“So sit down and start signing those books!” Leo said, guiding me behind a table with about ten paperbacks and one hardcover book.
“That one’s for you, Mom,” Carrie said. “Oh, and look at that magazine article.”
On the front of a Ladies’ Home Journal titled “100 of the most important women in the 20th Century” my photo had been glued right across from Mother Theresa’s picture. Aly opened the magazine.
“See, Susan K. Carrel, author. Dan wrote that article, Mom.” And there were even book reviews by Barbara Kingsolver, Julia Alvarez and Sandra Cisneros compliments of Debby’s creativity.
Soon I was signing my book for my family and for friends in Seattle and Chicago. “Wow she really slipped into the role of an author, didn’t she?” someone observed.
Well, I thought, I’m only turning sixty once in my life, and it would probably be my only book signing party, so why not enjoy it!

If you’re curious about this, check out www.lulu.com, type in my name or the book's title and see for yourself. Because Aly designed the cover and Carrie formatted the manuscript the total cost besides shipping was just the cost of the books. I won’t apologize for the content. It’s my memoir but basically a story about how I ended up teaching English in China and what happened during the year and half we worked and traveled there. Obviously, it’s not the final edited version but there aren’t too many mistakes. The writing, while not professional, is an easy read, and as David Hays, Rich's son, described it, “I've never read a book by someone I know. I can really picture you and Leo doing all those things.”