Buried Treasure

Mom loved books and reading. I definitely take after her in that way. Together we delighted in discovering new authors, reading their books, then passing them on to others. My sister told me that when Mom moved from our family home to her condo, she donated about fifty boxes of books to the local library. Now again, Mom’s books need sorting through, and that job has fallen to me. Again, I have donated many of the books, and I have kept a small number for my own library. I also have been looking at Mom’s special books.

She kept a small prayer book which was given to Dad on his second birthday. It was a delight to read prayers written about one hundred years ago. I found a family Bible from my Mom’s side which listed everyone born from my great grandmother all the way down to my own generation. Seeing all the names written in old fashioned script gave me a wonderful sense of the continuity of the generations.

I found my Mom’s own Bible. It was a King James Version, published in 1953, the year before Mom and Dad got married. I have been slowly working my way through its pages, looking for, and listing, the verses Mom underlined, slowly building up a picture of which parts of the Bible were important to her.

It’s been an beautiful journey, providing much food for reflection. The books we own seem to say so much about us, and no two collections of books are the same. I am feeling in no rush to finish mining this buried treasure! It’s been an unexpected joy, an unexpected pleasure on this contemplative journey.

Thanks so much, Mom, for modeling that happiness is having a good book to read and a good book ahead. Thanks for teaching me how to enjoy my own company. Thank you for encouraging me to write. Thank you for showing me that happiness lies in sharing the good things we discover with others. For these and many other life lessons, I will be eternally grateful!