This past week I returned to Nantucket for a few days. Yes, it is the land of the rich, famous and beautiful. But that’s not what took me there. My mission was to wrestle down the wisteria vine that has begun to swallow (and I am not exaggerating here!) my mother’s house. The vine has been running up the south side of the house since we moved in forty-something years ago. It’s been allowed to run wild and rampant for the past few years and a serious pruning was in order. But before I could get started with the pruning shears, my first assignment was to ready my childhood bedroom for the arrival of a special houseguest.
Our house is over 300 years old and full of interesting angles, corners, nooks and crannies. The doorway into my old bedroom is a step 14″ high. There’s a single window with the infamous wisteria waving and winding on the other side of the glass. Horsehair plaster walls. The room is shaped like a pie wedge with the tip cut off. And at the wider end there are two cubbyholes in which I used to stash important possessions.
So while cleaning, I took a gander into the cubbies and came up with a most unexpected treasure: favorite books from my childhood and my 5th grade report card! Fine reward for domestic obligations, for sure. What a treat! There were books I’d received for birthdays, books I’d purchased at the hospital thrift shop, and even a book I’d been awarded for academic work well-done … in the 1st grade. Old friends all.
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How wonderful to see your old books again–very much like the ones I read as a child (especially Nancy Drew–I remember the covers well). I have none left. I hope you’ve retrieved your books! And congratulations on paring down the wisteria! 🙂
I have some of those same books from childhood. I had saved all my childhood books to give to my own daughter someday; alas, my mother lost them (or put them away, never to be found again).
Oh, those books!! How wonderful to rediscover your old friends. There are a few favourites from my childhood there as well. The home you grew up in sounds delightful! All those nooks and crannies would have been great “scope for the imagination”! ♥
Lisa,
Seeing titles and authors from my own childhood on your shelf gave me chills and made me realize our bond started well before we met. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
Gina