The look on her face

Holy smokes, I wish you could have seen the look on her face. Pure, pure JOY and EXCITEMENT! It was amazing. A few weeks ago, Erin wrote a letter to Colleen Robertia, one of the mushers we were following in this year's Iditarod. She wanted to appreciate Colleen who was using "runts, rescues and rejects" to run her race. Anyway, it was a typical 7-year-old letter with careful printing and a few misspelled words. We didn't think much of it, except to look up on the map where it was going.

Fast forward to today. Erin rides her bike down the driveway to get the mail. As I'm standing in the yard, I hear the screech from the mailbox (about 250 feet away!). Then I hear the thumping of a child running in rainboots--"MOM!! MOM!! MOOOOMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!"

"What is it??"

"COLLEEN!! MOM! COLLEEN WROTE BACK! MOM--SHE WROTE BACK!!" (I swear there were tears in her eyes!)

We carefully open the letter and there it was, a full-color poster of Colleen and her dogs with a description of why she had wanted to run the Iditarod and a personal response to Erin on the back.

Now, because I read Colleen's Blog (here) I know that she got quite a few letters from her fan base (apparently quite a few classrooms picked her for their musher on this project) and I know she had intended to write back to everyone. I just couldn't believe she wrote a personal letter and mailed the whole poster to each of us. Amazing effort on her part--and, again, I wish you could have seen my little girl's face. If I could have captured it on video, I would send it to Colleen so she would know how her incredible efforts paid off.








If you ever happen to read this, Colleen Robertia, thank you! You are one amazing Alaskan and you should know you've made a huge mark on the heart of this Maine family.

(And yes, Erin did have to go back down the driveway for her bike which had been left abandoned on the road in all the excitement. Good thing we live on such a quiet street!)