the librarians, Kiwanis, and community put on a show, in Ambler

We talked about LOVE—but also, mainly, love—in a gorgeous theater in downtown Ambler last night. I have Lauren Smyth, Cheri Fiory, Anne Frank, the Kiwanis Club of Ambler, the Upper Dublin and Wissahickon Valley Public Libraries, Kristine Weatherston, Kristine's Temple documentary film students, those Ambler-ites who shared their stories out loud, Ann Tetrault of Manayunk's The Spiral Bookcase, my husband, my father, and a wide community of others to thank for this evening in which a light mist accumulated outside and time unspooled within.

I believe, as a writer, in opening one's arms. In saying, This world belongs to all of us, and I want to hear your story, too. And oh—we heard their stories.

Ambler is a town worthy of the recognition it is now receiving—bakeries, upscale restaurants, family restaurants, two theaters, two libraries, kind people. I will always be grateful for the invitation that brought me there, and I do plan to return.

Don't think I'll ever see one of my book titles up on a marquee again. I'm keeping that memory.