What is it about inspiring stories that make one tear up? I think all of us in the tea room were welling up as we listened to the stories the docents told of Eleanor Roosevelt’s childhood, dedication to human rights, and fierce independence and bravery.
This afternoon, on our second day at the Quoddy Writing Retreat for Teacher Renewal with Ralph Fletcher and Georgia Heard, most of us headed out on a little field trip to Campobello Island across the bay to have “Tea with Eleanor” and tour the cottage where the Roosevelts spent most of their summers.
As I rode in the back seat of Ralph and Jo Ann’s car, our phones switched to Atlantic Daylight Time. We drove out to Herring Cove Beach, collected pebbles and sea glass, then it was over to tea, where I learned so much more than I ever had about Eleanor. (Fun side note: one of my favorite books as a kid was A Letter to Mrs. Roosevelt by C. Coco De Young.)
One of those new facts was My Day, her 500-word daily news column that she wrote 6 days a week for 27 years, only missing a few days after her husband’s passing. The original Slice of Life, I think (and the inspiration for today’s post)!
I left the session with the delicious aftertaste of gingersnaps and tea lingering in my mouth, and a desire to learn more. Next we went to tour their cottage, where we saw the desk at which she wrote all of her thousands, maybe millions, of letters.
Now it’s off to the one supermarket on Lubec to get a bottle of wine to share, and dinner with Ana by the water to watch the sunset!
Writing With Abandon 