“I open windows to see out, open doors to go out, and read books to find out.”
(Anonymous quotation.)

Some days I know what I’m going to write in my blog. Some days my mind is blank and I’m waiting for a “vision” it seems. However, once I get to the keyboard I begin to have thoughts race through my mind. With the holidays behind us and the midst of winter on us there is less contact with the “outside.”

Every two weeks my Schwan man comes who is just a kid. I’ve had several delivery changes in the years I’ve ordered from them. The most recent is this young man who has a wife and little boy. He has the manners and kindness of a Saint, always asking how I am, if I had a good holiday, and treats me like his grandmother. Now I know some of you are thinking…… “well of course, he’s a salesman who wants an order.” At my age I’ve had many salesmen cross my threshold and trust me, he restores my faith in salesmen.

I remember when the children were just toddlers and we were having a hard time making ends meet. One day a salesman came to the door selling Childcraft Encyclopedias. He promised if I would just let him show me the books he would give me a sample. (A vision I now see as the witch giving Snow White an apple.)

I was 24 at the time and mindful of my manners. So I allowed him in and he showed me the whole nine yards. I wanted the books but I tried gracefully to tell him we couldn’t afford them. I hated to be rude and was wanting him to leave so I finally caved in and agreed to buy them. Of course, when the first payment came due and thereafter, I had plenty of time to regret my well intended purchase. The next week I was walking to the grocery store in my neighborhood and saw the salesman. I smiled and would have spoke but he recognized me and made sure I didn’t have the opportunity. He walked to the curb not looking at me and crossed the street. There was no doubt that he recognized me. The man who had the great personality the week before was obviously “done” with me now.

I did love the books and read to the children until they were old enough to read. The books were well-worn and loved. Becky read to her children from them and then went to John and Barb for LJ. The nursery rhymes and stories were geared with content and colorful pictures for a young audience. Occasionally Becky and I quote some of the things that had impressed her at the time. Family reading is so important.

My aunt Inabelle, one of my mother’s sisters, always sent a book in her Christmas box. We loved getting her gifts. I read each of the books aloud as they came to the children. The Island of Blue Dolphins, Brighty of the Grand Canyon, Winnie the Pooh, Stuart Little, Misty and Stormy of Chincoteague to name a few. Of course part of the reason I had a captive audience was because our television quit working and for 6-months we couldn’t afford to have it fixed. However tragic it seemed at the time it remains as some of my best memories.

I want to commend Barbara because at an early age of LJ she read to him every night at bedtime. No matter the temptation to skip because of company she didn’t get to see very often, she continued on. I don’t know exactly when their nightly story time stopped but they both looked forward to it at the end of each day. Becky read to her children often and I am happy all three of my children love reading and are quite good at writing when they take a notion.

As for myself it has always been important to me to express my feelings....it keeps me grounded to revisit the days gone by.

Essentially Esther