I like to travel. This summer, I will be an armchair tourist through 20 years of international family life.

There is a book coming out in July that I, for one, plan to preorder. (So long as I know which address to have it sent to….) It is the memoir of a spectacular woman I know- Melissa Dalton-Bradford- whom I met during my time in Norway some 19 years ago. We lost touch for many years as she and her family moved around the globe and this book will be the perfect, juicy, lavish update I have been hoping for. It’s called Global Mom: a Memoir. But I’m in it for more than the personal reconnection.

This woman can write.

Melissa has the most amazing gift for words. No, that description doesn’t do her writing justice at all. She is a gifted artist in the linguistic medium. She shapes the most beautiful, touching, deep, and hilarious ideas into readable forms that are as inspiring and luscious to read as any gorgeous visual art is to view. Her ability to paint thoughts into words is delicious, almost to the point of addictive.

I get my fix by reading her blog, Melissa Writes of Passage. Here she shares a lot of excerpts from the upcoming book as well as her current travels and experiences, pieces of her other books and, if you go looking in the categories, some of her poetry. Reading Melissa’s poetry is like eating some kind of gooey, buttery, Parisian cream-filled chocolate raspberry pastry, it is so rich. Pause often, breathe deeply, take a drink of water, and then continue, slowly. Savor it. It’s really good stuff. Even when the subject matter is heavy.

So, if you like pastries (real or verbal), reading, travel, families, humor, compassion, philosophy and life, do not miss the July release of Global Mom by Melissa Dalton-Bradford.

I’ll be reading it as I experience- live- my own transition from one part of American culture to another… perhaps wishing I was on my way to an exotic location… or maybe glad I’m only moving to a new state.