Reading

I feel very grateful that in this life of mine, which is becoming narrower by virtue of disability, that I have a love of reading. Always there is a book with me; there always has been one.

I remember years ago friends telling me that reading would become a thing of the past when I had children. That really didn’t happen. If a person wants to read bad enough, a way will be found. I always took time here and there to read a book.

My children witnessed this, of both myself and their dad, and they became avid readers. I remember Larry Peterson, the principal at Alex’s high school, telling everyone at Alex’s funeral that this boy always had a paperback tucked in his back pocket. He would take Larry into these lands of fantasy when they spent some time together before the class that Larry was teaching. I still have the bookmark in the spot where Alex reached in the Star Trek book he was reading.

I lost my reading desire, except for books about grief, after Alex left us. But slowly the desire to be swept away into a different life found its way back into my psyche. It took a long time for the complex novels and speed to come back to me, but it finally did.

Over my lifetime, part of my reading has been the joy of ownership of the books that I so love. I would buy what I wanted to read, and a bookstore was my candy land. After Alex’s death, though, I no longer felt the need to own that which gave me so much pleasure. Slowly I have donated much in my own little library, and have never regretted it.

During this time I discovered Wilinet, which is an acronym for the Washington County Library Online. A search can be made through this service, which is free, to locate any book in any library within Washington County. When located, I can have it sent to my local library in Sherwood, and pick it up there. This can take as little as one day, or if it is a new bestseller, months. I am okay with this. I always have a book in my hand, but feel good about returning it.

Now John is doing the same thing. We are saving tons of money. Being avid readers can be very costly, and as we approach retirement we are becoming more frugal. I love this as a way to “have my cake and eat it too.” As we prepare to sell our house within the next couple of years, I will continue to purge the books I love, but do not need to be with me.

I am attaching a link for Wilinet for those who live in Washington County and would like to give it a try. Happy Reading!