a moment in the day: the big moment

There's applause in the event space at Powell's City of Books. Laura Stanfill, the publisher of the anthology I edited, has just announced my name, and I'm hugging her probably longer than I should, and now I'm stepping up to the podium and looking out over a completely packed house full of friends and family and contributors and writers and people I don't know who are just interested in this book I helped make. This is one of those moments. One of the absolute biggest moments of my life.

I lean into the mic for my first words.

"I just had to give my husband my half-sucked cough drop."