My Sister Goes to a Sarah Palin Book Signing in Grand Rapids

Her e-mail to my wife who asked her to get a copy for her:

Hi Mary,

I was successful, they did allow two books.

It was an all day affair but well worth the effort. With the number of people at the signing we didn't know if they would just shove us through or if we would have a chance to say something.

Some people spent the night outside the mall, the earliest people coming even before the mall closed the night before. I got there at 6:15 in the morning. On the way there, I was listening to WOOD 1300 and they said there were so many people at the mall entrance already, if you weren't there you might as well forget it. I decided I was not listening to that, but I wonder how many people didn't come because of what they said.

They were opening the doors at 7:00 to give out the wristbands and sell the books. The actual book signing started at 6:00PM. It was chilly and breezy outside, but not frigid and the only thing that got really cold were my feet. Should have worn hiking boots instead of shoes. A really cute young couple, newly married, was in front of me in line. The guy was very tall and very cold, but his wife wouldn't let him leave. We finally made it to the Mall doors by 9:30 and that was welcome warmth. As an aside, I had a dentist appointment scheduled for Tuesday the 17th, which I had been able to switch to Wednesday, since my dentist office is not far from the Mall. My appointment was supposed to be at 10:00, which I thought would be plenty of time; little did I know. We were still not quite in the store by 10:00, so the tall young man let me use his Blackberry to call the dentist office to tell them where I was. After all the time in line I wasn't leaving, and I guess they had quite a laugh at the office.

After I got the books and wrist band I headed to the Dentist. Pam, my hygienist, was able to rearrange her schedule so I even still got my cleaning in. After that I went back to the mall, ate lunch, and got right back into the already growing line by 2:00. At least this time we got to wait inside. I had wondered what I was going to do with all my time in Grand Rapids, but then I knew the answer; stand in line. They did start the signing right at 6:00, we got into the store by 7:00 and were out by 7:30.

When I finally got to her table, she shook my hand, I thanked her for coming to Grand Rapids and told her that my son Matt wanted me to tell her he thought she was awesome. She, looked up, flashed that great smile, and said to tell him thank you very much, and thanks for the encouragement. She struck me as very genuine, no special airs, certainly not a diva.

I plan on putting the book in the mail to you tomorrow. Consider it my Christmas present to you guys. I had a lot of fun, met a lot of neat people in line and even saw Andrea Mitchel, NBC News. She is a little person with quite a large nose.

You can't buy that commitment. These are people who will stand in line all day in the cold to get an autographed copy of her book. The Left hates her, the middle is doubtful, but the Right loves her with an intensity that burns like a nova. Love is stronger than hate. She may be the next Ronald Reagan and the nay-sayers have no idea what they are dealing with.