A Review of Three Dorothy Whipple Books

The COVID pandemic hit just after I had started pursuing some interests on my empty-nester list such as gardening and reading. To find books that would interest me, I looked on the Goodreads app at books that HAD interested me in the past to see what similar books would be recommended.  One of those books was Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher. I discovered it when my children were small and liked it so much that I read it to one of their elementary classes. The app said that people who enjoyed this book also enjoyed books by Dorothy Whipple, and when I clicked on those, I discovered Whipple’s cult following. The reviews convinced me that Whipple was my cup of tea, and indeed they were correct.

I didn’t find her books in my local library but they were on Amazon. Upon further investigation, I saw that they are published in the UK by a publisher called Persephone Books. Persephone’s website is full of information about their books and their store which recently relocated to Bath and looks so quaintly English. This publishing company has set out to elevate the esteem of women writers by publishing their undervalued and out of print novels, short stories, diaries, memoirs, and cookbooks, mostly of the early- to mid-twentieth century. The website is well organized and, besides paperback books, also offers e-books, audiobooks, a few book-related products, and sign-ups to receive free magazines and newsletters. Of course, I can’t condone every theme in the books, but there are many great reads from this publisher.

After succumbing to the rave reviews, I decided that I needed Dorothy Whipple’s They Were Sisters so I ordered it directly from the publisher. The book seemed quite expensive at £13 which is $18 plus a one-way ticket across the pond, bringing it to around $23 for a paperback. Once it made the two-week journey, I gave it very little time to recover from jet lag before diving in. The next few days are a blur as I sneaked (because “snuck” isn’t a word) moments to read a few pages. The book became my guilty pleasure and, though it went on for 455 pages, it was over way too soon.

I needed more. To the website I went to search for my next alternate universe, and it brought me good tidings of great joy to discover that Persephone have (and this is the verb tense the Brits use for a company—have, not has) a box set of Dorothy Whipple books, eleven in all! It did include They Were Sisters so now I have an unmarked duplicate to give as a gift. I don’t currently see the complete set on offer but there is a set of six of her books which includes the three I write of in this post. I obviously highly recommend them! To order the complete set required an email because it wasn’t on the list for online ordering (must have been for only a limited time) which later resulted in a phone call from a lady at the publishing company because she didn’t trust email for sending my credit card information.  As much as this introvert hates talking on the phone, I was delighted to chat with a lady with such a lovely British accent. I wonder if my Britophilia is my ancestry calling to me.

Most of Persephone’s books are in a gray (or grey if you’re British) dust jacket and each has its own unique endpaper with a matching bookmark which is a reproduction of a print or pattern from the year of the book’s original printing. Some books which have reached classic status have special collectible dust jackets. My stack of unread gray books is a reminder of an awaiting relaxing indulgence that I am forcing myself to resist.  I must pace myself lest I gobble them up too quickly and then am never able to read them for the first time again. Though I know there are other excellent writers to explore at Persephone, I think I probably started with the very best.

They Were Sisters

By Dorothy Whipple

First published 1943

455 pages

Lucy is the eldest of her sisters, Vera and Charlotte, and becomes the unspoken female authority in the household after their mother’s death. Whipple describes the relationship by saying, “They kept things from her and deceived her as if she were a parent. They made her weep into her pillow at night, because she loved them with all her heart. They were her responsibility, her anxiety and her happiness.” [page 8] The book made quick work of introducing the sisters and having them leave home, and Lucy “was like one who has a piece of work on which she has been long engaged taken suddenly out of her hands…” [page 24] You can easily see how this struck a chord with me as my babies were leaving home. Although Lucy helplessly watches her sisters destroy their lives, she realizes that at least she did something for them they were unable to do for themselves. (I’m trying hard not to spoil the sweet ending for you.)

They Were Sisters endpaper

Dorothy Whipple has a way of writing about nothing terribly exciting while keeping your interest and bringing you in to a familiar scenario. You recognize the characters because you know a version of them. You can see both the fatal flaws and the gifted uniqueness of people which leaves you pitying and admiring them simultaneously. The vocabulary used paints the picture of the early 1900’s. I had visions of when the old things in my grandparents’ houses were new. 

High Wages

By Dorothy Whipple

First published 1930

316 pages

Jane is a shop girl in a dress shop, sharing a meager apartment above the shop with a coworker. Through hard work and seized opportunities, we satisfyingly watch her go from rags to riches in a nearly miraculous way during an era when this was not the norm for women. Her climb to success is intriguing but a moral fall is ahead which she lives to regret and rectify. The tidbits on the genteel culture and fashion of the day were particularly of interest to me.

You know how sports fans are brought out of their armchairs and go into animated celebrations of victory at a great football play? Well, my equivalent to that (maybe not quite so animated) is when Dorothy Whipple serves it up COLD! You’re reading along and then page 74 hits you with a double whammy:

1. Jane is nervous when a wealthy socialite and her spoilt (British spelling as opposed to our American “spoiled”) daughter enter the shop where a proper tea is laid for them. “They might offer her a cup of tea…Sometimes she seemed to make a loud noise when she swallowed. She prayed that she wouldn’t do that to-day. Her prayer was answered. They did not offer her any tea to swallow.” If I were my youngest son, I would have flown out the front door and taken a lap around the driveway screaming “Ohhhhhhhh!” on that one.

2. And this was said of Jane’s enviable character: “The more you trod on Jane, the more she wasn’t squashed.” Boom.

High Wages endpaper

Dorothy Whipple can paint a clear picture in your mind with very few words. I shook my head in wonderment when I read, “‘Well, it beats me,’ she said at last, looking at Jane over the spectacles she wasn’t wearing.” [page 167] Again with the “wasn’t.” WHO THINKS TO PUT IT THAT WAY?!  NOBODY, except Dorothy Whipple.

The Priory 

By Dorothy Whipple

First published 1939

536 pages

Major Marwood and his family live in a former priory, a monastery or nunnery run by a prior, which was built in the thirteenth century for the service of God and the poor. The Major lives for the time of year that he hosts a cricket tournament even though he is too poor to maintain the estate and his family properly, but also never makes an effort to improve his situation. He gradually has to let employees go and puts the Priory up for sale. The book tells of the romantic relationships of the staff and of the Major’s two grown daughters, Penelope and Christine, who have been spoiled and sheltered all of their lives (“No one said them nay.” [page 280]) and have no marketable skills.  The later part of the book details Christine’s journey into marriage and the heartbreak she suffers.  She goes through a difficult time, living a life that was completely unexpected and trying. The story ends happily with a satisfying outcome concerning what she thought was lost forever.

Here are a few of the excellent themes in this book:

▪️Recognize when something is doomed; it will only get worse and you will eventually have to deal with it. 

▪️Happy endings require humility, hard work, and forgiveness.

▪️Foolishness causes a lot of pain that cannot be undone.

▪️We are eternally endeared to those who help us when we cannot help ourselves.

The Priory endpaper

Whipple’s phraseology intrigues and entertains me. Some may be common cliches of her day, but most are just her way of putting things.  Here are a few Whipple-isms she whipped out:

▪️“The gilt began to come off the gingerbread.” [page 244] The reality of married life set in.

▪️“Rising like a full-breasted swan from the lake of mahogany…” [page 247] This was the preface of someone proudly stating his opinion.

▪️“He mounted his highest horse before speaking.” [page 259] Can’t you hear him clearing his throat first?

▪️“Yesterday’s sun had not reappeared.” [page 363]  I would have said “It was a gloomy day.” or “The sky was gray.” but she made it sound so much more bleak by stating what didn’t happen.

Dorothy Whipple’s books are not Christian literature but I noticed that they always portray sin in a negative light. She has characters use curse words occasionally to show what type of person they are. I am sure she could have gotten that point across another way seeing what a good writer she was. The illicit parts in the stories were never gratuitous but merely implied. I was surprised at the many Biblical references made in the books and Chapter 21 of They Were Sisters is practically a sermon with an altar call. I am sure the books could be used to promote many different views, but I thoroughly enjoyed the ways they voiced my feelings as a woman, mother, and human being.

_The Education Of A Gardener_

My goal to read a book a month in 2020 and my newfound interest in gardening collided in my discovery of The Education of A Gardener by Russell Page (1906-1985). I read an accomplished landscape architect’s tribute to this book on Instagram which included a photo of his copy with its tattered edges. He credited it as one of his earliest inspirations and educators on the subject of gardening. The book was written by a master in the field of gardening and is used as a textbook (complete with an index) in landscape architecture classes so it seemed a good place for me to begin my study. I knew it might take me to lofty places of which I would never need to know, but it also would give me a good foundational acquaintance with the necessary terms I would soon encounter.

After reading two prefaces, a foreword, and a twenty-eight-page introduction, I feared this might not be that thrilling of a read as there was much detail given of the author’s projects which led up to the writing of the book. I suppose so much prologue is necessary in a legendary work whose followers beg for details of its genesis. However, when I crossed into Chapter One the reading became even slower, not because of lack of interest or difficulty in understanding, but because of the time it took me to go back and underline all the remarkable lines I now read. I basically read those passages twice. It was evident that Mr. Page had fully been taught by the garden and he was well able to articulate his knowledge. I started to wonder how he could keep up this pace of imparting wisdom for three hundred more pages.

“I have to keep three dimensions always in my mind and indeed the gardener ’s fourth—growth in time. ”

— Russell Page, p.68

The author’s main point is to instruct garden designers to keep in mind the goals of suitability, simplicity, unity, and relaxation. He knew well how to do complicated designs but they did not accomplish the purpose of a garden. The beauty was achieved when the choices were fitting for the area and the owner. This exercises a mastery of knowledge used for the ultimate enjoyment of a garden.

“I have always tried to shape gardens each as a harmony, linking people to nature, house to landscape, the plant to its soil.”

— Russell Page, p.13

With the reading of this book, I have adopted the practice of circling a word I don’t know, looking it up, and writing beside it the shortest definition possible, sometimes drawing a sketch.  This will help me to review and further cement the word in my mind when I flip back through and read the things I’ve marked. 

Here are some of the words I met in this book:

faience—glazed ceramic ware

cloyingly—distastefully excessive

apposite—apt

insuperable—impossible to overcome

corymbs—long outer stems

propinquity—proximity

racemes—flower stalks along a central stem

pall—to lose strength or attraction

parapet—short protective wall

coppice—trees trained to branch from the stump creating a wall

sward—area of grass

palimpsest—each style overlaid by its successor

quinquennial—every 5 years

welter—a confused mass

copse—small group of trees

becks—mountain streams

I noticed the European spelling of some words such as centre, colour, and meagre and that what we call a lupine in North America is a lupin in Europe and Australia. I got familiar with some of the nomenclature used for plants such as calling a Japanese maple an acer and calling foxgloves digitalis. 

“…The most striking and satisfying visual pleasure comes from the repetition or the massing of one simple element.”

— Russell Page, p. 147

One thing this book imparted to me is an appreciation of trees.  I have known of quite a few types of trees in the past but for the most part I would say that trees have just been background to me.  Now, just riding down the street as a passenger I find it so interesting to look at the trees—which kinds and when they are at their peaks and how big they get and their interesting leaves and bark and shape and how they are pruned and when they bloom. I can appreciate better the years it takes to grow a full-grown tree and all the things that had to go well for that to happen. Trees provide boundaries, structure, beauty, and shade to our gardens. I can identify so many more trees now than I could before I read this book, partly because I finally put names to trees that I have seen for years but not known what to call them.  To know is to enjoy.

“…Trees will be the raw materials with which you will construct a landscape or a garden…You must learn to know them from as many aspects as you can. ”

— Russell Page, p. 173

In the second half of the book, Page talked about making gardens in different areas of the world.  He mentioned festivals in which he participated which took a year of work and duly noted how some huge bets didn’t pay off and left him scrambling and begging off of friends to prevent a public disaster, like finding in February that thousands of tulip bulbs planted for a spring show had rotted. THERE’S a lesson that we all can use, in the garden and everywhere else. 

“If you wish to make anything grow, you must understand it.”

— Russell Page, p. 47

But I discovered probably the most useful part of the book in the final chapter and no doubt the other chapters prepared me for it. The whole book was about Russell Page’s work in other people’s gardens, but the final chapter laid out his plan if he were to plan a garden of his own, which he never did. To get the final word on what he had gleaned from all of his many experiences was pure gold.  He knew the expense and upkeep of complicated garden designs.  He saw all the work and money that went into creating WOW gardens whose owners rarely even entered them. His final word on gardening was that it should create a quiet harmony. In planning his own garden, he would avoid dramatic strokes of attention-getting colors like red, orange, and fuchsia and use pale colors instead. Quiet harmony. Ironically, I come away from this book shouting in my head “QUIET HARMONY.” Yes, I agree.  We need quiet and we need harmony and we need to find it at home. What a beautiful and worthy gift our gardens have the power to give us.

“…If this intermittent vision becomes a reality…it will be satisfying for like all gardens it will be a world for itself and for me.”

— Russell Page, p. 363

Perhaps you can glean the benefits of this book from just reading my review, but if you want to read it for yourself, I would suggest reading chapters 1-7 and 13. That cuts out one hundred twenty-five pages that mostly list which plants he used in different scenarios, many of which I could not picture: great information for a career landscape designer but TMI for the rest of us. Still I can say that I am glad I read this book and hope that the principles I learned from it will be evident in the creation of my future gardens and in my appreciation of the plant world.

“A garden really lives only insofar as it is an expression of faith, the embodiment of a hope and a song of praise.”

— Russell Page, p. 359

Books I Read in 2020

Reading for pleasure has been a desire of mine for years and now I finally have time to do so. I have managed to read a book here and there while rearing children but I now want to make reading a daily part of my life.  Since I have a habit of planning out a course of action so that things aren’t done haphazardly, I thought that reading a book per month would be a good starting goal: challenging, yet doable and with a time limit. I set out to do that in 2020 and was very pleased to read over 3,000 pages. I believe I have now made reading for pleasure a habit and hope to read many more pages than that each year from this point.

A self-imposed reading program is a great way to keep your mind active and learning. I would much rather be engrossed in a book  than to watch a movie; page time beats screen time. I do need to read things occasionally outside of my comfort zone to see things from other points of view, but I am talking here about things I read for pleasure.  I enjoy few things but enjoy them fully well.

📚Fiction—This is pleasure reading, especially with a book you can’t put down. It’s fun to step into someone else’s experience and know their thoughts and feelings. You can be transported to times and places you have never known. 

For whatever reason, I tend to prefer fiction set in the late nineteenth to early twentieth century. Perhaps it’s because it’s the century before I was born. It gives me a better understanding of what led up to my era. It’s easy for me to picture life lived with my grandparents’ housewares and gives context to old family pictures and the traditions I was taught. It brings into focus the vague memories of my earliest days. I am also drawn to the fashion and gentility of that time. 

Genres I am not drawn to are mysteries, crime, horror, thriller, suspense, action, fantasy, and sci-fi. It seems impossible to avoid it completely, but I stay away from pervasive foul language and vulgarity. There are ways to indicate that a sin was committed without describing it gratuitously. I am squeamish so I’m not up for detailed descriptions of gore either. That’s not how I want to relax.

I’m sure there was much lost on me at the age at which I read classics for school, not to mention forgotten since then. There is such a long list of enduring novels that I will never run this genre dry.

📚Non-fiction

     ▪️Biography—These are usually fascinating with many lessons to learn from others’ lives and a better understanding of the historical period in which they lived.

     ▪️Christian— This includes devotional, commentary, self-help, and theology.

     ▪️Homemaking—Since this is my life’s work, I should be learning more about it perpetually. It also includes interests of mine (funny how that works) such as marriage, parenting, organization, cooking, decorating, celebrations, gardening, and flower arranging, all of which will be future blog post topics.

We have access to books by buying them from bookstores and the internet or borrowing them from family, friends, and libraries. I am blessed to belong to a church that promotes and accommodates the reading of good books.  My church Circle (ladies’ small group that meets monthly) works through a Bible study book each year, and the Women of the Church meet weekly in the summer to discuss a book. There are also books for sale at various places on our church campus and we have a church library. Books are often referred to and recommended in sermons.

In a bookstore (which is hard to find anymore), I am like a kid in a candy shop. However, life has taught me that I can’t (and shouldn’t) judge a book by its cover. It’s nice to have recommendations to help me make good choices, which is important since I will spend hours reading the book and its ideas will influence my thinking.  Two sources I have used recently to determine if a book is right for me are the app Goodreads and the YouTube channel Miranda Mills.

My goal last year was to read a complete book each month. I did do that several times, reading a book start to finish within a month’s time, but sometimes I merely finished a book I had started in the past (like-ya-do). Then there was October and November which I will explain below. All said and done, I did finish twelve books in 2020 but not necessarily one in its entirety each month.

So here is my list; these are the books I completed in 2020.  I plan to post full reviews on several of them soon.

📘January

The Best Yes by Lysa Terkeurst {Christian non-fiction}

We are faced with decisions every day because life is too short to do everything. Choosing poorly or sinfully brings consequences. Having high expectations brings disappointment and a feeling of failure. Choosing too much leads to exhaustion, frustration, and panic. This book guides you through a gentle attitude adjustment so you can choose well.

📘February

The Red Sea Rules by Robert J. Morgan {Christian non-fiction}

This little book, no bigger than my hand, uses the Israelites’ journey in Exodus 14 to show us the way through our seemingly impossible trials. It is sub-titled “10 God-Given Strategies for Difficult Times” and was given to me two years ago by my friend Becky who is now facing cancer. Her spiritual strength has always shown her friends and family how to be joyful, and now, in her physical weakness, it is also showing us how to be strong. Knowing someone like Becky will make these ten rules easy to understand.

📘March

Captivating by John and Stasi Eldredge {Christian non-fiction}

God designed a woman to have certain soul needs. The world is a cruel place for that soul but God is able to heal our wounds and allow us to realize and enjoy the beautiful creatures He made us to be. 

📘April

They Were Sisters by Dorothy Whipple {Fiction}

Y’all, Dorothy Whipple was the discovery of the year.  I LOVE her writing style! The story is about three very different sisters and the very different directions their choices took them. Full review coming on this one.

📘May

The Message of Daniel by Dale Ralph Davis {Christian non-fiction} 

This was the book my Circle studied September through May. Dale Ralph Davis was the Sunday night preacher at our church a few years back. This book reacquainted me with his genius and humor. I have marked many places where he captured the truth of the passage pointedly from the familiar Bible-story beginning to the less-digestible prophecy at the end. One truth he brought out was that Daniel shows us that “consistency assists courage, and discipline feeds faithfulness (Davis, 2013, p. 88).”

French Women for All Seasons by Mireille Guiliano {Non-fiction} 

In this sequel to French Women Don’t Get Fat, Mireille Guiliano shows us how to take on a French woman’s attitude about truly enjoying life by eating in-season food and incorporating exercise into our everyday lives. The book is replete with French expressions, recipes, and sage advice.

📘June

The Gospel Comes with a House Key by Rosaria Butterfield {Christian non-fiction}

I finished the last chapter of this book our church ladies read in the summer of 2019. Rosaria is a pastor’s wife and former university professor who opens her home every Sunday for a meal.  It is radical in that every walk of life is welcome and it is ordinary in that it is not fancy by any means which puts her guests at ease. She lives her life and opens her home all week in this gracious way. This book takes the focus off the place setting and onto people’s needs. Truly inspirational.

All That’s Good by Hannah Anderson {Christian non-fiction}

Our church ladies read this one over the summer and discussed it over Zoom each week. God’s perfect world is broken but His work is still good. This book teaches how to discern between what’s good and bad and recognize habits that are not living in light of God’s power to redeem. I have marked many simple but helpful truths in this book that deserve periodic meditation.

📘July

The Education of a Gardener by Russell Page {Non-fiction}

Russell Page was a professional garden designer in the early to mid 1900’s. He designed for public parks, corporations, and estates all over the world. This books lets the reader into his mind and into his experiences in landscape design.

📘August 

A Gift of Grace by Amy Clipston {Christian fiction}

Coming off that behemoth gardening read, I just wanted something light.  This was the story of an Amish couple who took in their two newly orphaned teenage nieces and the struggles that ensued in their adjustment to Amish culture.  It was a relaxing read that I obtained from my local library.

📘September 

Presentations by Carolyne Roehm {Non-fiction}

This library find is a beautiful picture book of creative gift wrapping techniques and ideas.

📘October & November

Magazines {Non-fiction} 

I finally had time to peruse over 200 interior decorating magazines from subscriptions dating back to 2009. They needed sorting so I used my reading time for this task these two months.  My favorites are House Beautiful, Veranda, Traditional Home, and Architectural Digest. [Free to a good home. Let me know if you live nearby and would like them.]

📘December 

Hymns for Advent {Christian non-fiction}

This is one of the devotionals I bought from thedailygraceco.com at half price making them $5 apiece! They are beautifully done and I thoroughly enjoyed using this the twenty-four mornings in December leading up to Christmas.  One Christmas carol text is printed for each day on a beautiful full-page photo and followed by a devotional for the day showing how the message of the carol relates to the Christmas story. Scripture references and thought-provoking questions accompany each entry. I enjoyed beginning each day of advent singing a carol in its entirety.

I am already reading at a better pace in 2021 and will let you know of the gems I discover.  Feel free to recommend your favorites to me. Happy reading!

My Reading Journey

“I don’t like to read.” This has always been my story and it has only been in the last few years that I have realized that it is a tale of fiction: it’s simply not true. 

I was a procrastinator as a young person.  I have always preferred completing a task and being done with it, not pecking at it along and along. (Pecking at tasks has now become my way of life out of necessity and I see great value in it.)  I was perpetually behind on reading my book report book.  When it came to homework verses projects, I was an acer but not a pacer. My mother came to the rescue several times and read the final chapters to me faster than I could have read them myself. (She had a soft love approach. My approach has been slightly tougher so I shelved that idea.)

I remember being called on to read aloud from the South Carolina history book in the eighth grade and reading “striped bass” (as opposed to striped treble?). Give me a break.  I’m a musician, not a fisherman. Being laughed at made me more careful not to trust my first impression when it comes to words. Even the word “read” can be read “read.”  See what I mean?

I have since realized how enamored I am with words. (Oh, look. “Enamored” has “amor” in it. That makes sense.) No wonder puns are my favorite jokes. My mother always had a huge dictionary by her chair and used it regularly as she did crossword puzzles or investigated unfamiliar words. I suppose this is where I got the novel idea of being a lifelong student.

I am a slow reader because I examine words carefully, typing them in my head, noticing the spelling, double taking to be curious of their use, meaning, and pronunciation. If I do something, I do it thoroughly, beginning to end and all in between.  I don’t want to miss anything.  What if I speed-read over a “not”?  I would take the opposite meaning of the whole sentence! My ability to focus on minutia is one of my best strengths but it makes for a slow reader (and could also cause personal and relationship problems but that’s for another day). Learning to sight-read piano music during choir rehearsals made it obvious that I couldn’t go back, linger, or second-guess.  The beat goes on and you must go with it. This has helped me to make my eyes move along in books at a steady pace and force myself not to look back. (That’ll preach.)

As a diligent student in high school and college, I always had more than plenty of reading to do.  There was no way that I would choose to read in my rare spare time. Then as a mother of small children, my go-to me-time activity would have been to go-to bed!

For these reasons, I believed that reading was just not my thing. But slowly I have realized that some of my fondest memories are centered around books.

Growing up, many teachers read to my class but it was Mrs. Edens in fourth grade that captured my attention. She read to us at the end of each day. I remember her reading The Mouse and the Motorcycle, Charlotte’s Web, and The Boxcar Children. I was completely caught up in another world and hanging on her every word.

When I think back to elementary school, library time was always a highlight of the week. This was a rare school moment when we weren’t asked to be the same; we could be ourselves with our own individual interests. We chose our own books rather than working from identical books. My memory was jogged about this when I recently looked at my fifth grade yearbook and saw that I was a library aide. (What a missed opportunity. They should have called us pages!) Hmmmm. Organizing. Books. It was a clue to who I really was.

Come to think of it, my school libraries and public libraries were favorite places of mine.  Ahhh, the Hartsville library! It was my first non-school library experience complete with card catalog and library smell. It made me, a child, feel like a citizen of the community. And then there was the Sumter library which I loved for a different reason. If your boyfriend is always your school project partner, then I guess you have to work on it periodically at the library together and since there’s a sandwich shop next to the library, you could take a much needed break for sustenance which might feel like a date even before you’re allowed to but it’s not technically. Sigh. Love and books. I mean love OF books! 

PC: Jud McCranie CC BY-SA 4.0

Fast forward to the stay-at-home-mom chapter of my life. My first child was an only child for four and a half years. Very early in his life, we began the habit of booking it over to the local library every week.  He developed a great relationship with Mrs. Davenport, the children’s librarian, and she would read to him at the little table while I chose books from lists (big surprise) I had created from my research. We took bags of books home each week and read through the stack at least once a day.  This continued with my other two children with much more camaraderie and reading to each other.  These are some of the fondest memories of my life and I type this with happy tears in my eyes.

When my children were all in school, I volunteered to read to their classes. I remember reading The Castle in the Attic and Understood Betsy to the upper elementary classes. Many of the children enjoyed it like I did when I was their age. It was a win-win-win: the teacher got a break, the kids got a treat, and I got the joy of taking their imaginations on an adventure.

This turnabout of events—going from despising reading to enjoying it— is one of those lessons life teaches you but only over time and with reflection.

1. The first lesson I see is that your passion may be revealed early in life but you may not accept it because you feel unskilled in that area. I remember watching my mother’s fingers move over the piano keyboard and just being amazed at how she knew which keys to press. I was fascinated but thought I could never do that myself. Learning takes time but it miraculously happens every day. Just because a skill is not easy now doesn’t mean it never will be. This shows us how important it is to continuously encourage good things in others: those lofty dreams are bound to become their reality.

2. Something which keeps catching your attention is probably a true passion of yours. I used this technique in picking out my china pattern when I was engaged. Every time I would look through a tableware brochure or see the “great wall of china” in a department store, my eye would stop at the same pattern over and over and I would gasp. I eventually knew it was mine.

3. As teachers, we feel like the bad guys, forcing children to learn things they resist learning, but actually these skills are the very things that will give them the abilities to pursue their passions. Mrs. Edens knew that she was showing us the enjoyment side of learning to read and write. Her mature long view won out over my immature short view and now I am grateful to her.

4. We want to return to those moments that made us feel at peace. As my interests were allowed to show in choosing my own books in elementary library, I felt seen. After Mrs. Edens asked me to do my work all school-day long, she recognized my need for refreshment and gave me a lovely story. I wouldn’t trade anything for the memories of being pressed up against my Momma’s side as she read to me, hearing her sweet tones and experiencing a book with her. Whatever is going on in our lives, we can escape to another world in a book. It’s safe and the conclusion is already worked out and within sight. I guess when I think about it, reading to me equaled love, and I have found myself sharing my love in the same way.

If my junior-high self could see me now, I would laugh at me. I’ve grown up, raised my family, and finally have free time to do anything I want to do, so what do I do?  READ and write BOOK REPORTS.  Voluntarily!  Life is funny.

Next blog post: The Books I Read in 2020.