Frances Richey

Ben and I were at Fort Bragg yesterday. We spoke to an amazing group of women who are in Famliy Readiness Groups at different posts around the country. All had husbands or sons who have served or are serving in Iraq or Afghanistan. I read a few poems, but the best part of the time we spent with them was the question and answer period. Ben and I shared equally in the discussion, and it felt wonderful to be there with my son and with a dedicated and caring community of women who are helping each other through the deployments of their loved ones. Ben and I enjoyed the time we spent there. I'm looking forward to our reading/talk at West Point next week.

I've been reading and enjoying your e-mails. There have been some questions about where I grew up. I grew up and went to public schools in West Virginia. Some of you have asked if I'll be coming to your area on the book tour. If you go back to the home page, you can click on the schedule heading and see all the dates and cities. In general, I'll be in New York, DC, Boston, Raleigh-Durham, Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Colorado Springs, Seattle and San Francisco. I only wish I was going to have a little more time in each city, but this will be a quick trip...a city a day.

Thank you for your heartfelt messages.