Obviously I’ve taken a bit of a hiatus from writing. In all honesty I’ve barely been reading the past couple of weeks. When my mental health takes a dip I don’t have the energy to read. I therefore bury myself in a tv show until my normal mental state returns.
I did however manage to finish one book, and as I mentioned, books about books are the most comforting...at least for me. You know the ones, the books about this girl or that who works in or owns a bookshop, surrounded by the thing they love most, recommending and reading their little hearts away.
So when I was having trouble focusing even on novels I was enjoying and stumbled across “The Lost and Found Bookshop” by Susan Wiggs, I knew I’d found another gem. Little did I know how incredible of a gem I’d found.
My favorite writing style incorporates multiple narrators, especially if there’s a throwback to times past. This novel had it all. Books, a magical bookstore tied to history, mysteries, romance. It was perfect. I loved the way the book flowed. That Natalie wasn’t already working at this beautiful bookshop completely in love with it. That she struggled with the concept of keeping it, that she struggled in general. A bookstore in this day and age is not a very lucrative affair. Everyone buys everything on Amazon. Or they are too broke to buy anything and survive on library books.
More than that though, I loved the respect Natalie had for her Grandfather and his wishes. She could have very easily forced a power of attorney on him and shoved him into an old age home and been on her way. But, she stayed, she took on countless loads of stress not only with the bookshop but with the increasing necessary care to him, because he didn’t want to leave his home. That to me spoke volumes.
I related to the regret she had over not being home more often to spend time with her Grandfather before it got so bad. This year has been extremely hard, I’ve only seen my parents a couple of times this year when I’m usually at their house for a weekend at least every other month. But even worse than that, I lost my own Grandpa this year. I lost him and I didn’t get to see him or say goodbye even over the phone because of the quarantine. I will never get to tell him that I’m sorry for letting life get in the way and not making it up to see him. Not calling him enough, not making sure that he met my son. That’s a regret I think I will live with till the day I die and see him again.
Family was always a big deal in my family. I lived a couple states away from my grandparents but I feel like never more than a year went by without us either traveling to see them or them traveling to see us. Calls were exchanged back and forth every holiday if we weren’t with them. That was the normal in my family. I feel like that was the exception. Family’s congregate on holidays and randomly, but I feel that family relationships aren’t as important in our society as they used to be. Family dinners around the table (or in front of the tv but all together), family afternoons on a regular basis.
If I got one thing from this book it is this: Call your grandparents, go see them. If you can’t go see them, call them. Call them on their birthday, call them on a holiday, call them on a random tuesday just to say I love you.
I managed to call both of my Grandma’s this Thanksgving, something I have not been good enough about in the past. Hearing one of them ask me to call her again sometime and then quickly replacing it with “or not, I don’t want to guilt trip you”, nearly broke my heart. She shouldn't have to ask me to call her again and she sure as heck shouldn't feel guilty about it.
Call your grandparents, call you parents. Make sure people know you love them. And strive to be like Natalie, someone who knew her priorities, put family first and got a pretty sweet life change out of it.
“The Lost and Found Bookshop” by Susan Wiggs
https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Lost_and_Found_Bookshop/8ZG5DwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0
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