A couple weekends ago I was grumpy with a sinus headache when, for whatever reason, I thought of The Little House books. Ma gave me the box set many years ago. For a while I was reading one each holiday season, but that petered out.
So rather than just sitting around feeling miserable, I picked up where I’d left off – The Little House on the Prairie. Their lives were so simple, and oh so hard! I inhaled the book that weekend and wondered what to read next, wanting to restart the holiday season tradition this year.
Then I remembered that one of sci fi books I read recently mentioned Anne of Green Gables. I’d never read it as a child nor did I know what it was about. I hoped I could find a free copy, based on its age. Jackpot! The written and audio versions could both be borrowed by Amazon. Audiobook it was.
It was exhausting listing to Anne. All the while I realized that I am a talker, too, and Ma probably often felt the same as Marilla.
Having recently finished reading of Anne’s exploits, I’m glad I didn’t read it as a kid/young adult. [Partial spoiler alert: I normally don’t do this, but since the book was published more than 100 years ago, I figure everyone who was going to read it has already.] The decision Anne makes at the end woul have left me with the moral that one’s goal in life should be to make a grand sacrifice.
The last thing I needed during my messed up teens and early 20s was that I should throw away my hard earned achievements for a greater good. I remember me at that age, and that is entirely how I would have interpreted that ending: make the noble sacrifice. And if I didn’t have a greater good, find something close and sacrifice away.
Of course, who I was then made me who I am today, and I’m forever grateful for her and all her troubles.
Has anyone else been rediscovering the classics? I’d love to know what else I should add to my list.
Grown Up, Now What? 