The launch was the best part. We pushed the raft into the water, and for a second, I thought it was going to sink. It wobbled and groaned, but then it leveled out. We all climbed on, and it actually held our weight. We didn't go very fast, just drifting with the slow current, but it felt like we were exploring a whole new world. Uncle Tom told stories about when he and Dad were kids and how they once tried to build a treehouse that fell down the first time a bird landed on it.

Inspiring students to write about their own "special days" with family.

| Theme | What it means in this book | |-------|----------------------------| | | Even people who love each other can have old hurts | | Growing up | Seeing your parents as real people, not just “Mom” or “Dad” | | Loyalty | Do you have to choose sides? | | Memory | Different people remember the same past differently |

Sheila Robins, if you are out there today (perhaps a grandmother, perhaps a retired teacher), know that your schoolgirl composition has outlasted its assignment. It reminds us to pay attention to the uncles, the fathers, and the Tuesdays that feel like nothing at all until we write them down.