Moments, not words...

In college, I'd sometimes have to do a verbatim for assignments in counseling classes.  I was not good then--I'm not good with verbatim now.  O, of course, there are past, emotionally packed occasions, when I either heard or said words that still ring verbatim-ally in my memory, but they are few.

What I do remember well are moments.  They may come at times when I smell a particular fragrance; or see a color or flower.  I may be watching a movie, tear up, and realize a memory has surfaced that has deep meaning.  Sometimes it's the emotion evoked from hearing a song.

I'm happier remembering moments--though they certainly are not always happy moments.

Hearing the sound of Jennifer's voice as she told me of her cancer diagnosis several years ago.

The emotions I felt as I read the text she sent me this week announcing no cancer cells!

Standing next to Mother's bed when I realized she was gone.  And now, walking into a store and seeing something red and wanting with all my heart to buy it for her.

Watching Kathy hold Sean to breastfeed him in the hospital.

Reaching back to give Curt a thumb's up as we watched Jen and Vic take their vows.

Seeing the ultrasound pictures that told me I had another grandchild on the way.

The music programs at Kathy's academy when her beautiful voice gave me such pride.

Walking across the university campus in Kenya after I'd heard the news of a friend's death in the States--thousands of miles away.

The memories of conversations--not the words--that evoke sorrow and the sense of helplessness because the results could not be changed.

Sensing from Gilly that he was home when he jumped into my car as we left the Humane Society.

Moments--not words.  Emotions and a connection with one's senses.   Understanding that come from such a deep place.

These moments bring meaning to my life--sadness, laughter, love, loneliness, contentment, joy, and gratitude for what they've taught me.

Time stands still best in moments

 that look suspiciously like 

ORDINARY LIFE.

All important conjugation: Have read, Am reading, and Will read...

I love seeing the phrase:  Summer Reading List...because it means there are new, interesting offerings that I may have missed on my Spring Reading List or my Winter Reading List or last year's Fall Reading List.

Anyone who says they have only one life to live must not know how to read a book.

                           ---Anonymous

 

I have already begun my SRL.  My first selection:  Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo tells a story of the culture of survival that develops amid the greatest poverty in the world. 

There is no such thing as  a moral or an immoral book.  

Books are either well written, or badly written.

     ---Oscar Wilde

 

Another quick purchase at the airport, Daddy's Gone A Hunting by Mary Higgins Clark.  Escape reading when you don't want to get into a chinwag--love that British slang because it's appropriately descriptive--with my seatmate.

Next, a book that attests to my ever-so-slight addiction to Jane Austen:  Midnight in Austenland by Shannon Hale.  If I admit the premise of the story I may become more-than-a-little embarrassed because, although a fan, I am not a purist, and this story is just another avenue into the romance of her times. 

A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies...

The man who never reads lives only one.

---George R.R. Martin

 

I have two books on order:  Northanger Abbey by (none other than) Jane Austen; and The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian--another favorite author.   Then, this morning, I got a notice from Bookreads that Jen had read The Girl Who Came Home by Hazel Gaynor.  Sounds interesting, so I put it on hold at the library.

So here I go--again confirming my lifelong addiction.  Every chance I get--and remember I'm retired, so I can make those chances happen--I will find a comfy chair or rest on my patio swing and read...and read...and read.

I sometimes pretend to myself that I have insomnia 

when what I really have is a good book and inadequate respect for tomorrow.

---your e-cards