If I had my way, reading would have occupied every summer of my youth. But my mom kicked me out of the house. “Fresh air and exercise,” she muttered as she closed the door behind me.
So I rode my single-speed, hand-me-down bike to city hall and signed up for a softball league. I couldn’t hit. I couldn’t run. And I prayed (as did my teammates) that no balls would rocket into my corner of the outfield. Because I couldn’t catch or throw.
The daily humiliation did not deck me though because, after our games, I stole into the library which fronted the baseball field and imagined a life outside the confines of our small town. Ever since, libraries have been my home base.
For 40 years, the Milwaukee Public Library has been my sanctuary. It has been a research center that helped advance my career; a support center where its story time gave me a brief respite from my toddler; a social center that provided activities when I was alone and beyond lonely. And I am beyond grateful. So to celebrate the opening of my new studio on Historic Mitchell Street, I’m donating all the proceeds from the sale of my artwork on May 11 to the MPL
So I rode my single-speed, hand-me-down bike to city hall and signed up for a softball league. I couldn’t hit. I couldn’t run. And I prayed (as did my teammates) that no balls would rocket into my corner of the outfield. Because I couldn’t catch or throw.
The daily humiliation did not deck me though because, after our games, I stole into the library which fronted the baseball field and imagined a life outside the confines of our small town. Ever since, libraries have been my home base.
For 40 years, the Milwaukee Public Library has been my sanctuary. It has been a research center that helped advance my career; a support center where its story time gave me a brief respite from my toddler; a social center that provided activities when I was alone and beyond lonely. And I am beyond grateful. So to celebrate the opening of my new studio on Historic Mitchell Street, I’m donating all the proceeds from the sale of my artwork on May 11 to the MPL
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