my family and stories that remind me of them. Cathy Sularski here…….. To help you get to know me better, I decided to share two of the things I love most---- my family and stories that remind me of them. I hope this will give you a good sense of who I am. Hope you enjoy the show!!!

I come from a big family, and I always loved that I come from a big family, and I always loved that. I have three sisters and one brother. And tons of great memories playing, teasing and just hanging out with all of them in Tucson, AZ. When I first read Airmail to the Moon, I knew just how Oreo felt because her family was just like mine!!! “We Cottons banter and squabble just like any self respecting family, but when it comes to a Cotton crying real tears, the rest come a-runnin’ hey-ho-howdy to help.”

My mom and dad both grew up in Michingan so every summer they packed us all up in the station wagon and drove us all those miles to see our relatives. It was the greatest time ever. – laughing, reading, and singing together in that car for three whole days. It was exactly like the family in The Relatives Came. “Then it was hugging time. Talk about hugging! Those relatives just passed us all around their car, pulling us against their wrinkled Virginia clothes, crying sometimes. They hugged us for hours.”

My dad didn’t worry though, he knew I was a bloomer!! When I was young, . I was a lot like Leo and Little Louie, it took me a long time to learn to do things that lots of other kids could do~ I couldn’t ride a bike, I couldn’t read and I probably didn’t eat neatly either! My dad didn’t worry though, he knew I was a bloomer!! I remember many nights sitting on his lap while he helped me learn to read. “And then one day, in his own good time, Leo bloomed”.

Once I did learn to ride my bike, you couldn’t get me off of it!! My friends and my sister and my brother and I spent hours riding our bikes and building forts in the desert behind our house. You can still see some of the rocks we used to create the forts!! “There across the road, it looked like any rocky hill – nothing but sand and rocks, some old wooden boxes, cactus and greasewood and thorny octillo – but it was a special place.”

When I graduated from high school, I left my family and moved to Flagstaff, AZ to go to college at Northern Arizona University. I missed them, but loved the adventure! That is where I studied to become a teacher. “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go..."

As much loved as I had been in my life, becoming a mom made me Real! After I graduated from college, I got married and became a mother. I have a daughter Sarah and a son Tyler. As much loved as I had been in my life, becoming a mom made me Real! “When a child loves you for a long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real. It takes a long time, but once you become Real, you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”

Sarah holds tightly to the things she loves most. When she was little Sarah loved to read. She would memorize books and then recite them to her stuffed animals! Sarah holds tightly to the things she loves most. I am not at all surprised she became an elementary school teacher. This way she can share all the stories she loves with her students! “What I heard first was the wind. What I saw first were all the places to love.”

Tyler was a late bloomer like me! He didn’t worry too much about the reading stuff, he knew it would happen. What he worried about was growing as tall as his friends. I never actually put salt in his shoes, but he did feel better when he found out Michael Jordan had felt the same way! He is now at Northern Arizona University studying to become a teacher too. “But, Michael had a hard time against the bigger boys on the other team”

In 2005, I had a really hard year and one of the hardest “My mama had a dancing heart and she shared that heart with me.” In 2005, I had a really hard year and one of the hardest things was that my mom died. I still miss her a lot, but I try to remember what she taught all of us, which is to enjoy every minute of our lives and to be open to new adventures.

I moved to Fort Collins in 2008 to live with and marry my favorite person, Walter Sularski. We have three dogs, two cats, one bird and a whole lot of fun!! “My (our) house is me (us) and I (we) are it. My (our) house is where I (we) like to be, And it looks like all my (our) dreams.”

HOPE YOU ENJOYED MY STORIES AND I HOPE YOU KEEP READING AND WRITING YOUR OWN!!!