CONWAY — I have a Kindle sitting next to my favorite chair, and I feel guilty about it.
It seems like I’m cheating on one of my first loves. For as long as I can remember, I have loved books.
I’ve had a lot of emotional reactions to books lately.
Children’s books are my favorites, and I have a collection of about 600 Little Golden Books. I decided to weed some out recently, and I sat and looked through stacks of them that I have stored in boxes in the garage.
I found one, a Little Golden Book about geography, that had a local businessman’s name in childlike writing inside the cover, and a Disney one with his sister’s name inside.
I called him to see if he wanted them (who knows what flea market or garage sale I found them at or how they got there), and he said he’d love to have them.
When I took the books to him, he hugged me. It was nice getting part of his childhood back, he said.
One of the few of my childhood books that survived was a Little Golden Book called Tammy. It originally had paper dolls in the back. (They didn’t survive.)
My mother had Ukelele and her New Doll, which she passed down to me. It’s more than just a book — it’s memories of my Nano, of being rocked and loved and of a happy childhood.
When I was looking through my collection, I opened a box of nothing but Snoopy books.
I found the paperback Happiness Is a Warm Puppy. I had two copies, and I flipped open the cover of the one in better shape.
I felt a pang in my heart when I saw the handwritten name in front. It was the maiden name of a friend of mine who died a few years ago in her early 40s. I’m sure she gave me the book because she knew I loved Snoopy.
She was my friend, and I miss her. Seeing her handwriting makes me feel like I still have a little part of her.
My favorite gifts to give to new mothers are books, and my favorite is Babies by Gyo Fujikawa. I buy five or six at a time. My friend Pam gave me that book when my first son was born. She told me that she held her son on her lap, and when she read the part, “Good or bad, all babies like to be hugged and cuddled and loved,” she would hug her son.
I started that tradition with my boys, too.
My mother has started buying Babies to give as gifts to her friends’ grandchildren. She forwarded me a text and photo of the almost 2-year-old granddaughter of a friend of hers, “reading” it.
The little girl loves the page where a baby is crying, because she likes to make the crying noises.
My friend probably didn’t imagine some 21 years ago that she would help create memories for other children by giving my son that book.
I’ve saved all my children’s favorite books, and there are some I can’t part with, no matter how many crammed bookshelves and stacks I have in the house.
Another friend said she’s thinking about buying herself a Kindle, but she wonders if she’d like it.
Like, yes. Love? Well, that’s an emotion I think has to be reserved for real books.