AMTRAK FAITH!

She told me how she once took a retreat from a women’s retreat. I laughed outloud. Instead, Amtrak Faith called her husband and told him she and her sister were leaving the retreat, but weren’t coming home. They checked into a swanky hotel downtown and shopped till they dropped. No scrapbooking or makeup tips for this grandma.

I liked that and her.  We compared notes about our daughters and grinding our teeth, in that order. We talked about what we learned along the way.  It was as if we both had some similar steps and the meal we shared confirmed that we were sisters in many ways.  It was unexpected gift, an affirmation that I have a tribe, a pack and that they are everywhere—even on trains.

RUN LIKE A GIRL is an invitation to life. And lately I have realized it is bringing my pack to me, one woman at a time. They are gutsy, independent women who have a style and a confidence hard won.  They all have SHE-roe stories, of raising children, finding their grooves and negotiating gravity.  They all know one indisputable secret—without God, they would be dead in one way or another. And because of this, they are optimists that they will survive—always.

So to all of you who have contacted me and written what this little book means to you, Thank You. The book is for you—a tribute to what I know is true in all women.  I had hoped you would find your way into its pages and that you would re-discover your girl spirit. I knew I could count on it to remind you just how amazing you are.  What I didn’t count on were all the new friends I would make along the way.  You inspire me to do better, work harder and keep knocking on doors. Thank you for that

So Amtrak Faith, Susie, Charlene, Angie, Rachel -- it is so on!  I will be offering some Run Like a Girl retreats this year—I promise there won’t be makeup tips or beading.  Is it a deal?