My husband Evan saw it first. We’d pulled into Merritt Bookstore’s parking lot for my book signing. There it was on a car door.
I laughed. Now that was a fan. Hope Was Here, my sixth novel for young people, has inspired some wonderful signage, but there was something about this dusty declaration that put things in perspective. Maybe it’s because dust represents the untidiness of life, the things we meant to do, like clean the house, wash the car. Maybe it’s because dust has allergens and invisible dust mites up to no good.
We all have dust in our lives—be it physical that we can see, or emotional that we can just feel. But if I’ve learned anything about hope, it’s this: Hope hides in dusty, broken places waiting to transform them. Knowing that keeps me watching and hoping.
Happy New Year!