Yesterday was a memorable day for me.  A day that I will not easily forget but rather will remember for a long time to come and most likely when I am old and retired and missing some teeth I will remember the 18th of January 2017 fondly.

I got into work like a normal working day.  I forgot my badge to enter the building.  Another typical ‘Hannah’ moment.  I had to go to the main reception on the 9th floor to get a replacement badge for the day, then go down the 9 floors outside walk across the courtyard to my building and go up to the 5th floor.  (I often wonder why they never thought of putting a reception on the ground floor rather than on the top floor.  It bemuses me).

The reason for forgetting my bag was because I switched my smaller handbag for my somewhat larger handbag as I was expecting a parcel any day but didn’t know when it would arrive.  As with postal systems you can never be too sure how long something takes to arrive.

Anyways I sit down to start to do some work.  I end up talking to my colleague for quite sometime before the receptionist from the 9th floor calls me and asks me to come as the courier is waiting for me.  I make my way out of my building, then across the courtyard, up in the lift for the 9th floor, with my heart pounding in my throat, full of excitement and nerves.  A bundle of excited nerves.

I walk up to the courier in a very confident fashion which is very unusual for me and sign some papers and he hands me this gigantic box.  OK I am exaggerating but for its content it was rather a large box.  And as i got back into the elevator to go back to my building/floor, I opened the box as if it was Christmas all over again.  The courier man watching me – and i take out my most priced possession.

My book.

The book that I wrote.

SEBBY – Son of Hope

The book that I spent two and a bit years working on.

I tell the courier man and no-one in particular: ‘This is the book that i wrote.  This is my book’ grinning from ear to ear.

I was completely and utterly delighted. Blown away. I couldn’t keep my eyes off the book…

And so the day got lost with staring at the book and looking at its perfection, and rather than working or doing something useful I was just sitting there looking at it in awe.

I accomplished something at last. Wow I actually accomplished something.  Truly very amazing!

All my life I was told “you’ll never be able to accomplish anything”..

But here I was standing with a book in my hands.

Not just any book.

It was my book.  Hannah’s book. Sebby’s book.

Amazing.

Still speechless for words, by the time i was getting ready to leave work, i carefully wrapped it up in bubble paper and put it in my over-sized large handbag and walked home with a joyful gait in my step.

Happy days. Joyful days.  Thank you Lord for this momentous moment in my life.  Thank you Lord, for enabling it to happen.  For seeing my potential.  For helping me become a published author/poet in 2017.

Wow.  Exhilarating.

Dear Lord, I pray that this book will have an impact on the people who will pick it up and read it.  That is my only wish.  If it can help just one person than I will be happy. Hallelujah.

And with that I can say with a quiet confidence I am proud of myself.  That despite what people have said to me in the past, I can accomplish anything that I set my mind to.  And the Lord helped by putting the right people in my life for that to happen.  The right people to guide me and to show me the ropes in the daunting world of book publishing.

There is no doubt in my mind that I am a:

Published Author and Poet now.