It’s no secret that the Cleveland area is left-leaning politically.  I consider myself an independent voter, but due to some unfair laws in Ohio I had to declare myself a democrat to vote in a chosen primary.  I wasn’t very happy about it, but it did lead to one good thing.  I was able to be a polling location coordinator (only possible if you are the party of the current governor, sort of, there are some really weird laws out there).  Anyway, election days are long and can be made longer if the people you are working with are, um, let’s just go with ‘fun-challenged’.  That day I had a great group and that was due in large part to My Republican and his lovely wife.  As a coordinator I was in charge of lots of paperwork and most things had to be signed by a republican and a democrat.  All well and good unless there is a big shortage of republicans.  Bob, spent the better part of the day laughingly responding to my frequent calls of “Where’s my republican?”  He was seriously such a great sport about it and he was full of positive and happy energy all day long that he made my day a lot easier.  Don’t worry, I think this story is going somewhere.

Flash forward a few years and nice fall day when my parents were visiting and we all went out for a walk and decided to stop by an open house down the street.  The door opens and Bob greets me by name and I greet him with, “My Republican!”  Come to find out that Bob wrote a children’s book (and turned independent) and I knew I’d have to get my hands on a copy.  So, Gage and I went by this week to pick up a copy of The Littlest Lamppost.  As you can see, Gage thinks Bob is a fun guy 🙂

This is the story of a real highway lamppost by the Cleveland airport.  Why is he so small compared to all the other posts around him and how does he feel about it?  This is the story of how and why he was made the way he was.  The story is a sweet one to read with an older child and has a great moral lesson.  It’s all about loving yourself and others even when some of us may be different from everyone else.  It just means that we have a special reason for being here.

I thought the story was great and I know that Gage and I will be reading it together in a year or two.  It’s never too early for children to understand that different is just different, and it doesn’t mean it’s bad or something to make fun of.  I am looking forward to my next trip that takes me by the airport so I can look for the littlest lamppost.

The Littlest Lamppost is available through Amazon and directly through the Littlest Lamppost’s website www.littlestlamppost.com.  The Littlest Lamppost also tweets ( @llamppost ) and has a facebook page www.facebook.com/littlestlamppost !

I told the story about how I met Bob because I thought it showed what a great sense of humor he has.  He never once took offense and instead spread good cheer the whole day long and was also very gracious when Gage and I stopped by.  I am happy to recommend his book!