A Shelf, A Turtle, and a Quiet Victory

Today I pulled into a Home Depot parking lot and cried.

I had just left Book Bin, a small indie bookstore in Northbrook. They agreed to carry Punching Above Your Weight on consignment. Three copies now sit on a wooden shelf under “Local Authors,” watched over by their resident turtle, Lily, drifting slowly under her lamp.

I didn’t expect it to hit me so hard. But seeing my book on a real shelf - not an online listing, not a screenshot - felt different. It felt real.

I sat there in my car, looking down at my hands on the steering wheel, thinking about where this all started. Writing in the ICU, beside my dad after he flatlined and came back. Writing in quiet mornings before work. Writing through the fear that no one would care, that I was wasting my time, that it wouldn’t matter.

And now, there it was. A book. On a shelf. In a store where someone might wander in on their lunch break, pick it up, flip through a few pages, and find something that helps them keep going.

It’s a small thing. Just three copies in a local bookstore. But it reminded me that this is how it’s always been. We build anything meaningful one step at a time. One shelf at a time. One quiet yes at a time.

Lily didn’t seem impressed. She just floated in her silent world, unhurried, unbothered. Reminding me there is no rush. Growth doesn’t happen in sudden leaps. It happens in small, patient drifts toward the light.

If you’re near Northbrook or Northfield, stop by Book Bin. Meet Lily. Buy a story that makes you braver. Maybe even mine.

Because fear only wins if you never step into the ring.