Every time I find a bulletin from the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators in my mailbox, the little girl inside me lights up. The little girl who waited by my front door with a mixture of anticipation and awe for the mailman to bring My Weekly Reader. The one who carried it proudly...reverently...then read and reread it until the paper practically shredded in my hands; and the only thing that saved it was the arrival of a new copy the following week.
My Weekly Reader "understood" that I wasn't just a child. I was a writer who was going to be published someday. It believed in who I was, and what I felt, even when I was searching to find out. It always nurtured me and mentored me, just by being itself.
And the SCBWI bulletin? It's a reminder of what was, what is...and what can be.