My Happy Place
I stood at the circulation desk of my library just a few days after moving to Clear Spring. The librarian told me that I needed two pieces of mail to prove that I actually lived where I said I lived. I had zero pieces of mail. We had barely even unpacked our essentials at this point. But I considered a library card to be very essential and was on a mission to procure one. I went home and anxiously checked the mailbox. It was the only time in my life that I couldn't wait for bills to come.
Some of the first books I checked out were baby name books as Chad and I tried to name this mysterious person growing inside me. Soon, I was rocking a carseat with my foot while browsing the aisles with my newborn. Our visits quickly became an unofficial sport of me putting five books back on the shelf while my Crawling Tornado yanked off ten more. Finally, Vienna was old enough for story time. By that time, I was checking out baby name books again.
Story time was the highlight of our week when the girls were small. It was a welcome diversion in a season when every day felt identical to the one before. I could talk to other moms. My girls could make a simple craft that I didn't have to buy any of the supplies for. The librarian would entertain them with books and songs for twenty glorious minutes. Last summer, Vienna informed me, "These stories are kind of below me." And she's right. But both girls proudly bought summer reading t-shirts with their very own money.
Now, we go to the library to do homework. If Chad needs to be away for the evening, it's our favorite place to pass the hours. I'm able to browse uninterrupted while the girls play games on the computer or look for books themselves. I wrote portions of my book there last winter and I'm dreaming of new writing projects I want to tackle in the future. Shiloh will go to kindergarten in January and I'm so excited to join the local book club. From what I can tell, it's a bunch of old ladies that meet once a month to eat mediocre snacks and talk about books. Count me in!
Our library isn't a fancy building. It's small and most of the books I want have to be shipped from a different library. But through it, I have built friendships, found community, and introduced my girls to the wonder of books. When I walk in its doors, I feel like I've come home.
I loved this post because it brought visions to my mind of our family at the library through the years.
ReplyDeleteOurs was a family affair, and the night before one of our babies were born we brought home SO very many books, read way too late, and slept very little before my labor began.😅
And we could ALWAYS count on a diaper to change or a little person needing to be taken to the restroom just as soon as we’d started our browsing!😀