Discarding a Few Old Friends

We have begun packing up our books – constant, dear companions of our marriage. For better or worse, we have always had too many books. In each of our moves, we have tried to let go of some – releasing them to the libraries or Salvation Army, or yard sales; or, most recently to Half-Price Books. (Not always a wise place to visit, especially if we get a little cash from selling them!)

Books are delightful society. If you go into a room and find it full of books — even without taking them from the shelves they seem to speak to you, to bid you welcome.~William Ewart Gladstone

All those books – boxed or in give-away bags – are good conversationalists; they remind me of all I’ve learned, forgotten, or never mastered.

They tell me of all the good times we will have again when the grandkids can see the art books, or history books, or geography tomes. They are harbingers of hope, and I hate not seeing their voices, even for a little while.

A house without books is like a room without windows. ~Heinrich Mann

Doing the sorting and packing was at first draining . . . I felt I was saying good-bye to friends I might not see again.

Seriously? Snap out of it, Barbara – libraries and Amazon are in the business of reconnecting me with long-lost buddies!

Moreover, the moving estimator confirmed just how dear these shelves of books in every room could be! That knowledge reinvigorates my resolve to find new homes for more of our old friends, no matter how much fun they tell me they will be.

But first I need to reread . . .

No person who can read is ever successful at cleaning out an attic. ~Ann Landers