Sunday Salon ~ Easter eggs, friendships, and books

Raegan, my great-granddaughter, hunting Easter eggs.  Here, you can see what's in her basket.

Easter eggs symbolize new life, the spring of the year, rolling around once again.  Raegan symbolizes, for me today, continuation of my family into the newest generation.  I can remember my grandmother who died when I was only a month older than Raegan is now.  That's six generations I hold in my memory:

1. my grandmother Inez
2. my mother Mildred
3. myself Bonnie
4. my daughter Sandra
5. my granddaughter Mackenzie
6. my great-granddaughter Raegan

My grandmother Inez was born in 1880, so our lives — from then until now — span more than 130 years.

BOOKED UP

Into the Tangle of Friendship: A Memoir of the Things That Matter ~ by Beth Kephart, 2000, memoir

Beginning with the rediscovery of a long-lost best friend, we meet a next-door neighbor facing the death of a spouse, watch two young boys learn what it means to be friends, and feel the heartache of a professional caregiver whose compassion and dedication ultimately come up short.  Kephart is concerned with the haphazard ways we find one another, the tragedy, boredom, and sheer carelessness that break us apart, the myriad reasons people stay together and grow.  What is friendship, and what is its secret calculus?  This book will resonate with anyone who has ever had a friend, or lost one.

This one is a "library re-loot."  When I checked it out of the library last year, it was one of eight books.  I didn't get it read that month, and back it went to the library.  This time, I'm ready to read about friendship after this sequence of events:

1. I read how Lauren F. Winner was affected by this book.
2. I typed out the paragraph.
3. I sent it to Beth Kephart.
4. I read what Beth posted here
5. and here.

Friendship is a funny thing, huh?  This week, Beth and I have each been thinking about the meaning — and the reality — of friendship.  Some of my friends mentioned on this blog are Martha and Jess, the couple I married twenty years ago; Donna, who opened a bookstore with me and is now my roommate; Jane, an artist working with tiles and pastels and other mediums.

Marg @ The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader posted this cartoon along with her library loot this week.  I thought I'd re-post it for all the bookaholics who read my blog.  Enjoy!

STATS

Just finished:  Patience, Princess Catherine ~ by Carolyn Meyer, 2004, YA fiction (England), 9/10

Currently reading:  Mary, Bloody Mary ~ by Carolyn Meyer, 1999, YA fiction (England)

Concurrently reading:  God Is No Laughing Matter: An Artist's Observations and Objections on the Spiritual Path ~ by Julia Cameron, 2000, religion

Up next:  I Could Tell You Stories: Sojourns in the Land of Memory ~ by Patricia Hampl, 1999, memoir writing

Totals for 2012:  38 finished + 1 DNF (did not finish) + 15 reviews

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