Books are memories, hold on to them

Books hold memories, memories of the time in our life when we read them, memories of moments that were similar, memories of people we love. 

Back in high-school my grandpa got it in his head that since I genuinely enjoyed watching old movies with him, I would love the same books he does….We have vastly different taste in books, but my love for my grandpa outweighed that and even though “Hawaii” by James A Michener took me 3 months to read, I made it through the entire book and was able to talk to him about it. 

Grandpa was very into history, he loved reading biographies and novels about history.That same year he sent me “Giant” by Edna Ferber, maybe it was the hopeless romantic I pretend not to be, or a premonition that I would marry someone who loves and spent several years in Texas. But I absolutely loved the novel. I loved how happy Grandpa was when I saw him next and we talked about it, how he refused to let me leave without the old VHS tapes of the movie because he wanted me to watch it too.

“Giant” gave me an opportunity to connect with my Grandpa on something he loved that I might not normally be interested in. It was a nice moment but I never realized how important that book would become to me. On Wednesday I received a very hard phone call from my mother. My Grandpa is gone, he has moved on to another world. All I wanted to do that night was curl up in bed and lose myself in the pages of the book we both loved.

I find it endlessly amazing that a book I loved but never expected to read again was really closer to my heart and more important to me than I ever realized. I guess I’ll be acquiring another copy to read anytime I need to remember him.

Hold on to your books and the memories they hold. Hold on and breathe, I know times are hard and a lot of people are losing, hope, jobs, people they love. Find books that remind you of happiness, find books that make you forget even for a little while and never let them go.