Last week at the library when it was time for Nuala to start, I asked the librarian Gearoid O’Brien if he’d like me to introduce her. He said that he’d been planning to do it, but that I should go ahead. I then felt a little awkward and like a pushy American, but Gearoid was gracious. He said, “No, no. Go ahead. You’re almost a part of the staff.”
I welcomed the children and I asked them if they remembered me from the previous summer. Not only did they remember me – they remembered particular stories. The two they called out were “The Cow’s Eyelashes” in which I long for ballerina gear, and “The Calf Scramble.” When Nuala got up to start telling, one little girl asked her, “Will you be telling that ballerina story?” Nuala said they’d have to ask me about that and I quickly said that maybe they’d hear it later in the summer.
After Nuala was finished, a girl – maybe nine – came up to me and said, “I really want to hear that ballerina story.” She had a long brown braid down her back, a bright blue headband, and little tortoise-shell glasses. I said, “We’ll have to check with Mrs. McLynn, the librarian, about that.” I pointed out Mae to her and she said, “I’ll ask her about it myself, will I?” I nodded and she went right over and had an earnest conversation with Mae. She then came back and told me, “It’s sorted.”
Sure enough, I will be telling for their school the last week of June!
In the photo above, she is on the left.
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