… when I was about to walk out the front door on February 18, 2013 and the mailman was just leaving the front step. February 18 was Family Day, a long weekend holiday. I wasn’t expecting mail.
Imagine my surprise …
… when I spotted and then plucked an envelope, addressed to me from the Ontario Arts Council, out of my mailbox. “Well, here we are. My ‘we regret to inform you’ notice,” I said to my husband as I brought the letter inside. “At least I can stop checking the mailbox every day now.”
Imagine my surprise …
… when I tore open the envelope and found it to be fuller than I remember it being in previous years. There was more than just the usual one-pager in there.
Imagine my surprise …
… when I slowly opened the top flap of paper, upside down, and, peeking into the fold, quickly searched the inverted and creased first line for the word “regret”
Imagine my surprise …
… when I couldn’t find it. When I read and reread those upside down words a couple of times before it dawned on me that “regret” had been replaced
by the word
pleased
“… I am pleased to inform you …”
Pleased? Pleased?
I flipped the paper rightside up and unfolded the entire thing as my eyes skipped wildly across the rest of the opening paragraph:
“Dear Claudia …”
“… the Ontario Arts Council …”
“… you have been awarded …”
“… ‘The Other Wyre’ …”
” … cheque is enclosed.”
My misty hazel-browns slid down to examine the handwritten signature at the bottom.
And then I rechecked the name at the top.
It was still mine. Claudia Osmond.
Imagine my family’s surprise …
… when I jumped up and down on the living room floor in my snow boots, coat, scarf and mitts, shouting and crying and crying and shouting:
“I got it! I got it! I got it! I can’t believe I got it!”
I still can’t believe it. The process is fierce. What makes a successful applicant is unpindownable.
But it’s true. Thank my good God, it is true.
I am beyond grateful to the Ontario Arts Council and its jurors for their support and affirmation.
And for believing an eleven-year-old girl named Theodora has a story worth telling.
It’s so wonderful that the jury was able to fund your project! Your post proves that efforts and persistence in re-applying can be very rewarding. Thank you for sharing your joy with us. All the best for your upcoming project! — Ontario Arts Council.
Thank you, Daphnee! It’s so affirming to be supported by such an amazing program. The OAC gives creators like me one more reason to keep pressing on. It truly is a rewarding experience.
Congrats, Claudia! Great post, too! I noticed myself skipping wildly across the rest of your post, to see what the surprise was about. Well captured your emotions!
Thank you!