Every New Year’s Eve, I like to make a list of things I’d like to accomplish in the new year. Whether that list is just a few lines long or not very specific, there’s always a list.
Here’s my New Year’s Resolutions for 2016:
Monthly Archives: December 2015
2015: My Year in Books
Well, it’s been a while since I’ve written on here… a bit of a disappointment because I’d hoped to write something every day when I started this blog. But, life (and a lack of ideas) got in the way and it is what it is!
As 2015 comes to a close, I’d like to take these last few days to reflect on some of the things that happened this past year. Tonight, I’d like to look back on all the books I’ve read and see which ones I liked best… and which ones I could have done without (which I’m pretty sure I did earlier this month, but now it’s official as I’ve completed this year’s reading challenge of 30 books). Continue reading
Hiccups
Hiccups or hiccoughs
Involuntary spasms
That serve no purpose.
Perspective
Last month, I met an adorable, spunky little girl. At just eleven years old, I knew she was special right off the bat. There was something about her that shined above the rest. But until tonight, I didn’t realize just how special she was. Is.
We were talking about our love for arts and crafts. Our favorite colors. Painting. And then, out of the blue, she shared something with me. She said the past year had been tough because in just one year she lost three very important people in her life. Her stepfather, her brother and her grandfather… all passed away in a year’s time. And her dad… well he’d been abusive and she wasn’t allowed to see him anymore.
“So now I have no dad,” she said shrugging.
Her story only took a minute or two to tell. She said it so simply. So nonchalantly. Like, “that’s life.” And then she was back to talking about painting and cartoon letters. Just like that.
I thought about it all night. It haunted me. Because at eleven year olds, this little girl already had more heartbreak than some people experience in a lifetime. This little girl was forced to grow up sooner than most. But somehow she’s still smiling. She’s still painting. She’s still sharing.
This month, this special little girl and I are performing in a play that talks about guardian angels. And I can’t help but wonder if she’s one of those angels here on earth helping me put things in perspective. Helping me learn to smile and shrug and say, “That’s life.” Because if she can still smile… then so can I.
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon
I go through phases.
Food phases. TV phases. Book phases. Where for several weeks or months, I eat or watch or read the same thing over and over and over.
Lately, I’ve been in a Stephen King phase.
The first King story I ever read was back in high school. A friend’s mother gave me “Lisey’s Story” for my birthday. I remember liking it, but putting King aside.
Until now.
Around Halloween, I bought “The Shining”… and spent the next month sleeping with my lights on. Yesterday, I finished the sequel “Doctor Sleep” which wasn’t nearly as eerie as its predecessor. And today I read a lesser known King story… “The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon”… a book I borrowed from a friend.
It took me half a day. Half a day to get lost in the woods with nine-year-old Trisha McFarland. Half a day to get lost in a story about a little girl’s love of baseball… the Red Sox… and pitcher Tom Gordon.
And it got me thinking… would I survive a week lost in the woods of New England? Would I even survive a night? Who or what would I fantasize about to get me through? Certainly not baseball… and certainly not Tom Gordon.
Would I pretend like I was Bilbo Baggins in “The Hobbit” like Trisha did in the beginning? Would I pray to Tom Gordon’s God or the Subaudible or the God of the Lost? Or would I pray to my own God?
Hopefully… well, hopefully I’ll never have to find out.
CONFESSIONS OF A PAPER GIRL 