NEW BABY AND NEW BOOK!

This has been an amazing few days! Tuesday, my baby had a baby! It's hard to believe that my youngest daughter is now a Mom! Baby Emme, my fourth granddaughter and seventh grandchild, arrived Tuesday morning at 9:42 and weighed 8 pounds 9.5 ounces! Her daddy doesn't look proud, does he!

Emerson Rosalie is absolutely precious! Her name is a combination of Barry's middle name (Emerson) and Becky's great-grandmother's middle name (Rosalie).
Emme looks strikingly like Becky's baby picture, but I think she has Barry's lips. She definitely got both parents' long fingers! Maybe she'll be a piano player, or a floutist, or an artist, or . . . whatever she wants to be!
This was the first birth that I wasn't there for moments afterwards, but when I finally got to hold her, it was pure joy! Each new addition to our family is a treasure! She joins quite a crew of cousins who will love her so much!
Just a day later another momentous event for me took place. For the past eight years I have been collecting my students' poetry, short stories, letters, and essays in response to the Holocaust and other 20th century genocides. My goal has been to publish their work. After almost ten years, it finally happened! Tonight we held an author signing/book reception to launch Remembrance and Reflection: Students' Response to Genocide. The following are photos of just a few of the almost 90 writers.
In the background is a quilt made by one of the students as a course project.
Students had so much fun autographing the books for the people who purchased copies. About 100 people attended the reception!
Courtney is a student from this year's class and had a wonderful poem published.
Corey has already graduated and is attending Shippensburg University. It was terrific being able to reconnect with students who have graduated and moved on with their lives.
I am so proud of these students. A big shout-out to the Greencastle-Antrim Education Foundation for a grant to help us get this book published. 100 % of the proceeds from the sale of the books will be donated to the Pennsylvania Holocaust Education Council, which provides materials for teachers in Pennsylvania who teach the lessons of genocide. Anyone who would like to order a copy of the book can purchase it through Amazon.com. Local folks can contact me as I have a few copies on hand.