LOVE THE BOOK!!! It arrived today!! Perfect timing--it was just Griffin and me hanging out today, so it was really fun! The 2 of us getting the mail, finding this package, and being able to sit peacefully together and share this book. He LOVES it more than I could have even imagined! And I am so impressed with the quality of it! Thank you again, Michelle!! Hope you are having a great day!

It was true! the book from @memoirofme did arrive! It is AWESOME. I love, love, love it!! Every kid needs one of these books!!!

@memoirofme Thanks again for the Memoir of Me book! After I read it to my son, I got a great big hug. I think we'll be reading it a lot!

We received our book for Ian this past weekend and it is great!  It is very high quality and I think he will love it.  I can't wait to place an order for Ashley and Andrew!   

Dear Ben,

I am sitting in the bathroom with you while you take a bath. It is our daily ritual and one of the most peaceful moments of our day. You in the hot, soapy water, me listening to you sing and talk to your animals. And then the occasional conversation between us:

Me: What was that?
Ben: A bubble fart!
Me: Wow!
Ben: Now I'm going pee pee.

It's our one pause of the day, a rare moment when we have nowhere to go and we're not rushing to the next thing. When will I ever learn to stop rushing to the next thing?

Andrea, thank you making me laugh!  Love, Michelle

Day 31 of 99 in 33 goes to Autum and Morgan.  Jill writes a beautiful letter, “Dear Autum and Morgan, I’m sure neither of you can remember back to when I started taking care of you, but I remember it very clearly. It was late when I got to your house that first night, and your grandma came and helped me put the two of you to bed. Morgan, you were about seven weeks old. You were so tiny; you still are. You cried a lot those first few days, but it wasn’t long before you were smiling at me. Autum, you were a cute little two-year-old. I went into your room that first morning, thinking maybe you’d be scared; you didn’t know me well. You just smiled at me from your bed, and reached your little arms out towards me. When Dad came in the house, you pointed to me, like you were  showing him I was there. That first time I stayed for two weeks, but I was back before long. I loved taking care of you and watching you learn and grow over the years. I could never get enough of you. I can’t believe how old you both are now. I try to come and visit as much as I can, but I still miss you so much when I can’t be there. I will try to remember what you told me Morgan: “Don’t be too sad. It’s not like you’ll never see us again.” You two have wisdom beyond your years. I love you, Jill”  Sharing special memories for Jill in a Memoir of Me book.

The next goes to Perri who writes a lovely story about Eleni.  My daughter, Eleni, whose namesake means Bearer of Light, came into this world both wanted and made of Love. Learning that I was going to be a mother brought tears of joy to my eyes; I was thrilled to know I was going to have a greater part in the Big Scheme of Life. Eleni was born on her due date and I brought her home “healthy” to live with me, her father, and her “Abuelos” - her paternal grandparents, those first 10 months of life.

I took Eleni to her first well-baby check-up on a pleasant October day. The pediatrician, Dr. Takahashi, a cardiologist’s wife, detected a heart murmur. We learned that she had several heart anomalies, and it was likely too risky to operate.  In addition to Eleni’s story, her only sibling, Eric, was born 2 years after her, with a hole in his heart in need of closure. He had open heart surgery at 3 years old, and at 16 had foot surgery for a congenital variation. He has cared deeply for his sister, and has carried mixed hope and grief for her.  

 Somehow as overwhelming as it has been for Eleni, and her family, I have persevered and made everyday still count, as Living Life with Enthusiasm. Having a strong spiritual awareness and supportive family and friends has also been my saving grace. My daughter has taught me that with all her challenges and all her pain, fears and despair, that I, her mother, must always be truly present, and the ultimate keeper of faith. Perhaps her greatest gift to me has been to have chosen me to be her mother, and nurture her, believe in her, and love her just as she is. Eleni’s soul has carried the torch; she has been my Bearer of Light.”  Sincere gratitude for you, Perri and Eleni.

Two more days.  Six more books.  Love, Michelle

Today’s 99 books in 33 days goes to two more from the @MckMama community.  I so appreciate all of your support in sharing your stories with Memoir of Me.  Jeannine says, “I wanted to nominate my daughter Maddie. She is 9 months and received a life saving bone marrow transplant at 4 months old. Thank you.”  You bet, yay!  Maddie!  You are amazing!

The next nomination is from Josanna.  She says, “Although he is still quite young, he loves to cuddle and hear stories.  Currently, my husband is finishing his degree, so I am working full-time outside the home.  My job requires me to travel about 75% of the time.  This is what needs to happen for our family right now, but it is still hard.  It is hard for my husband because he knows how much I want to be home full time, and it is hard for me because I miss my family.  I’d love to have a book that tells the story of all the fun times we have together.  I love the personalized letters that you put at the end of each book.  What a special book for a child to have and definitely cherish! Plus, it is so hard to find books in the US that refer to the mom as Mum, so a personalized book would be fabulous.  If I won, here is my letter that I would love to have in the book.”

Dear Augustus,

You rocked my world the day you were born.  For the first 3 weeks, you lived in the NICU... You were so content to be held and rocked.  All of the nurses and doctors loved hanging out with you - “the picky eater” of the NICU.   We were with you as much as possible, constantly encouraging you to grow strong, sleep lots and learn to eat - we wanted you home as soon as possible!  Once you came home - the partying began! You and I had a wonderful summer traveling all over. You loved to sleep in the middle of hot, loud swim meets.  You loved watching the kids swim fast and you loved the loud noises.  It was so much fun to look down at you in the sling and see your happy, sweet face smiling back at me!  We went swimming in the lake, and tubing in the river.  You are a natural fish!  When your daddy was off work, he came to play with us as well.  In the fall, I had to go back to work. Sometimes, you and your daddy fly out to see me.  You are such a good flier!  On your first flight, the flight attendants gave you an award for being so good!  You didn’t even make a sound.  Which made your Daddy really happy, since you two were traveling alone!

Sometimes, when I am away for work, you go to Camp Mimi or Camp Jinon.  You are such a good sport!  I wish I could be with you all of the time, but my work has me travel a lot.  When I am away, your Daddy reminds you how much your Mummy loves you. Knowing you are at home waiting for me, helps my week go by so quickly.  You are the light of my every day!  I am so grateful that God placed you in my life! 

I love you past Pluto and back...

Mummy

Thank you Josanna.  Daddy can read your special book "Dear Augustus, Love, Mummy" while your away and share all your special memories.  Love, Michelle

Today, we give away books to the niece and nephew of Cami – who inspired our 99 books in 33 days.  Here is her letter to them.  “Dear Taylor and Thomas, You are two very special kids and the best niece and nephew anyone could ask for. I hope you will always remember the trip we took with your mom to Disneyland. We all had such a blast on the rides and eating junk food. But Mickey Mouse evaded us all day. We were on a mission to get your photo taken with him, but he was just too busy elsewhere to grace us with his presence. And then, just as we were about to give up, there he was, standing about ten feet away and there was nobody in line to take pictures. We got that great shot of you guys and your mom wearing your new, personalized mouse ears. It was perfect. You are both growing up so fast and turning into smart and loving young people. Remember that I will always love you and be here for you both. Love, Aunt Cami

The next two books go to Cerriah and Alexis, two amazing and spirited girls.  Their mom Gina writes, “Hello! I read your post about the 99 books and I would love to nominate both my girls. Both of my girls were diagnosed with Type I diabetes at a very young age. My oldest, Cerriah was 3 and my middle child, Alexis, was 4 years old. In their lifetime they have endure 6 shots a day and 10 finger pricks a day. That may not seem bad, but when you do the math you see that they have had thousands of shots and finger pricks in their short lives. Cerriah has almost lost her battle numerous times. In 2008 we had the ambulance at our house every month. My neighbors already knew to come and take care of my other kids when they saw the flashing lights. Cerriah had strep on her blood stream and nearly passed away. Her temperature when we got to the hospital was 106.8 . That's not a typo.  Life is never dull in this household!   Both girls take their diabetes like champs. They never complain, take shots and blood draws better than most adults, and are always watching their carbohydrate intakes.  

Although life is tough for them, they never take life for granted. Both girls have over 900 hours of community service and have raised thousands of dollars for various charities. Alexis won a national award in 2008 for her community service and Cerriah won a national academic and volunteer award in 2009!  They have their own organization where they collect books and bears for hospitalized children. Being on the receiving end of books and bears has made their hospital stay a little brighter, so they wanted to make sure they extended that same experience to other kids.I thank you for the opportunity to share our stories. I am sure you have thousands of emails, but it felt good just getting this all off my chest. I have amazing girls that never let their "dis" ability affect their perception of this world.

Thank you Cami and Gina for your nominations for 99 in 33.  We are praying for little Cerriah and Alexis.  We hope your Memoir of Me books bring you special moments to share together.  Love, Michelle

3 more in 33.  I share two more stories today of the three.  These are nominations from MckMama community.  This is from Jessie.  She says “I saw you linked from MckMama's Facebook. Thank you for what you're doing for these families!  The family I think would truly appreciate a book is the family of Jonah.  You can read about their story at his mom Patrice's blog.  I've known Patrice since I was a teenager from Bible camp.  Patrice and Matt's first son, Gabe, was stillborn, and their almost-one-year-old, Jonah, has a very rare skin disease, Epidermolysis Bullosa.  Basasically, if anything causes friction on his skin, his skin blisters and comes off.  As of right now, there is no cure.  Patrice stays home to care for Jonah 100%, and is the most selfless mom I know.  A book like this would mean so much to the Williams family.  Please consider giving one to them.

Laura Bower, Executive Director & Child Passenger Safety Technician, nominated Kyle David Miller’s family.  Kyle was born March 13, 2002 and from the moment he was born he filled our lives with such joy and sense of completion. His big sister Katie was so happy to have a little brother, she had been talking about him for months before he was born,  Kyle was a blessing, perfect in every way.  In 2005, Kyle was killed in a car accident.  He had had his seat belt on, but a 5-point harness secured and tethered to the car is the safest way to keep your child in a car until they are 80 pounds.  Please visit the Kyle David Miller Foundation and help put a child into a safe car seat - thank you!  If you want to buy a 5-point harness, please visit http://www.hipmonkey.com - all proceeds go to the foundation!

Thank you to the families for sharing your heartfelt and touching stories.  Love, Michelle

On the second day, I received a bunch of child nominations for 99 books in 33 days gift giving frenzy!  I am so grateful and excited to share their special stories.

The first was a nomination by Marina who has been following Abby’s story told through her adoptive mom, Michelle.  Abby  has cancer and here is an excerpt from Michelle’s blog “Abby has been fighting cancer since she was 3 years old. With less than a year to go, she is on the home stretch. Jumping ship now when she has fought so hard would be like quitting the Super Bowl as the 4th quarter started. Ain't happ'nin.  Now is not the time for quitters, not as parents, not even as a 5 year old.

We (Brent and Michelle) have talked many times about "when" we would stop all treatment. We aren't the "no expense is too great, no suffering too much just as long as she lives" types. We struggle knowing that we could let her simply go on to heaven where she would wait for us and play with Jesus for a while until we get there. But... we selfishly and naturally want to keep her here with us.”  You can read more about Abby here http://www.riggsfamilyblog.com/ 

The second book goes to Haley who was nominated by Jessica.  “I would like to nominate Hayley.  Hayley recently lost her mom to cancer.  Before her mom died I showed her my daughter's Memoir of Me book and she was really excited about making one for Hayley --unfortunately time ran out before she wrote her letter for the book.  In Leeann's honor, I would like to write a letter to Hayley from our family.

Dear Hayley,

You will always hold a special place in our hearts.  You were one of Hannah's most special friends in preschool and she will never forget the way you offered her your friendship. In preschool Hannah never said one word out loud to you because her Selective Mutism hindered her from being able to talk.  Despite that fact, you would sit together, coloring and doing art, side by side and without expectation.  You never left her side to go play with others that did talk, you were content and had an unspoken language, the two of you.”   

Lastly, here is my first unsolicited child nomination from a really special Dad to his son Will.  His Dad worked with him to swim for the first time and here is Will’s story:

Will’s got "mad skills" and sledding in the snow, always wants to help shovel when I'm snow blowing, loves to play baseball, football, and soccer with me (his dad) in our basement and is the best 3-year-old tackler I've ever seen!  Though we limit his "screen-time", somehow he's managed to learn how to play his games on my iphone, even though I put a password on my phone!

Please send all your love and prayers to Abby and Hayley.  Look for more stories tomorrow!  Love, Michelle ps here is a pic of Abby.

See author and CEO Michelle LeBow's home office.  She explains how to create a book with Memoir of Me.  It takes 3 minutes!   

My mom says I ran out of the womb and haven’t stopped since.  It’s true.  Running, I feel most at home.  My dad, who broke the state mile record in 4:26, ran after work and I rode my bike with him.  I loved the angle of the late afternoon sun on the green grass, my feet on the bike pedals, and my dad running next to me.  When I got older, I ran with him.  I’d run next to him and I’d get tired.  I’d want to stop.  He would say, “Feel that pain? Yes, Michelle.  That pain is when you have to get your guts up.” 

The pain that suffocates you from your lungs down to thighs.  I started racing in junior high and I felt the pain.  That’s when I would say to myself, “Get your guts up, Michelle.”  I began to understand, every time I went to the start line, that’s all racing is.  The person who can take the most pain.  I knew, at the start line, I could take more pain than anyone else on that line and I would be the one to finish first.  That knowledge is when I started my racing career.

Running to me, though, isn’t racing.  Running is my passion so deep in my core, it’s like breathing.   It’s the one time of the day that I am free.  A oneness.  In earth, mind, and body.  Where my thoughts become my lungs and my hear t and my feet.  The earth, and all its beautiful elements -- blustery wind, bleating snow, simmering heat – become me, too.   I am free to be that thing I was before I was born.  I become the earth and the earth becomes me.  

Because of this passion, many of my life events have taken place around running.  Like my most intellectual and deep conversation with my equally geeky boy teammates.  Like my college weekends riding in vans to Midwest campus tracks.  Like running in practice until I would hurl and be bed-bound until the next morning.  And, finally, like running 22 miles of the women’s national marathon championship unknowingly pregnant with my soul-changing baby boy. 

My passions have not changed.  They have morphed.  Both my family and friends trump running, now.  And Memoir of Me might rank a little higher than running in a list of priorities.   But the racing lesson I learned early -- the person who can take the most pain -- is a life lesson really.  Life is pain.  In an expansive, lusty, breath-taking way.  The person who can take the most pain and bounce back and take more is the one who has the capacity to continue on their spiritual quest and become the thing that they were put on this earth to be.

This is running to me.  What about you?

This is me hugging my SCSU (where I was rently inducted in the the Hall of Fame and deemed the greatest distance runner in St. Cloud State history) teammate Darla after a race, not a run.

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Yesterday, was a day that I will remember when I'm 70 years old.  A memory of my son Tucker, 14 years old, sitting across the table from the super smart, seriously sweet executive production team of Bizarre Foods as they pick his brain for the teenage perspective of a Bizarre Food show.

Tucker -- who, in his high chair, wouldn't touch his cheerios, but gnawed a red pepper like an apple. Tucker who prefers eating feta cheese on his burger to American.  Tucker -- who won't eat pizza, but sautes clams, minnows, June bugs and crickets from our backyard with "butter, salt, pepper, and sweet basil."  Tucker -- who has one of the highest IQ's I know of, but has raging ADHD.  Tucker -- who can talk about the conflict in the middle east, but can't turn in his social studies assignments.  Tucker -- who in the car on the way over to Bizarre Foods was so jittery/headache/nauseous from his ADHD medicine messing with his sensitive system that he could hardly see straight.  Tucker -- who, although suffering, by the time we got to Bizarre Foods had pulled himself together.

When we entered the studios, Tucker shook hands and introduced himself to BF team.  Tucker served his apple crisp and poured them coffee.  He pitched his ideas for bringing Andrew's world to kids everywhere in America, no matter what community or socioeconomic background.  He traded shop talk and got the inside scoop on his favorite Bizarre Foods episode (when Andrew ate a raw beating frog heart with chop sticks.) And he discussed how eelpout found in Minnesota is similar to lung fish found only in Uganda.

I sat utter awe of Tucker.  To be at the table with decision makers in an industry you are passionate about and to be confident enough in your ideas to communicate them effectively, is a skill most people struggle with (even myself as a GenX Mom.)

This is Tucker, with his friend Mason, cooking a cow tongue. Definitely a story I would put in a Memoir of Me Book.  What about you?