I just got back from vacation! I can’t even remember if I mentioned I was leaving or not. Each year my family goes “up North” fishing for a week. We go to the same place every year, get the same cabins every year and pretty much do the same stinking things every year. I love it actually. One of our traditions is to play “Phase 10″ (it’s a card game), which often takes multiple nights given that there’s usually at least 6 people playing. We have a traveling trophy that is a fish to hang on the wall that says “Gone Fishing.” It’s not as tacky as it sounds, I swear. Anyway, I won! For the third year in a row (and really, I’ve won 4 of the last 5 years…the one year I didn’t win I wasn’t able to go on the vacation). Yeah, I rock. I know it. /sarcasm
I’m not a huge fisherperson so I just hang out in the cabin or on the boat and read a lot. One of the books I read this year (I usually get through at least three) was “The Guersney Literary& Potato Peel Pie Society.” Sounds like the dumbest book ever, doesn’t it? Our family friend brought the book for herself to read but I started it because I had already read the two books I’d brought along. I do read a lot but I rarely read good/high quality books – you know, more literature than just a good story – classics or Oprah Book Club quality. I read murder mysteries mostly, by people who pump out a new book every other month or so (James Patterson, J.D. Robb, Faye Kellerman, Tami Hoag, etc.) I read before bed every night – when it’s too hard to understand the old English of Jane Austen and I’m too out of it to read too much into something.
But, I think I need to work on pushing myself to read more literature-like books. I have *really* enjoyed the last few higher-quality books I’ve read recently – Memoirs of a Geisha, Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns, Ashes to Ashes, and now Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. The books I listed weren’t really difficult to read ( like classics) but I’ve read so many “literary” best sellers that were utterly boring, that I’m hesitant to try any more. While a murder mystery may not be deep, it surely is never boring!
Anyway, to the Guersney story. The book is a series of letters written amongst a group of friends in Europe & Guersney Island (I don’t think that’s what it’s official name but I don’t feel like looking it up) after the WWII Occupation. I loved the honesty and wittiness of the characters and it made me miss the quality of the written word that hardly exists anymore. There’s something so pure and personal in the hand-written word of the past (even in notes to friends) that just doesn’t seem to exist in e-mail, blogs, or text.
We celebrated my parent’s 40th anniversary while we were on vacation. I immensely enjoy hearing stories about their past. One of my favorites is the one about my dad in Vietnam. My mom wrote him every single day (they weren’t married yet, or even engaged). He was the envy of all the guys at mail call because there was *always* something for him. While I’m sure troops appreciate getting e-mails from their loved ones daily (and how amazing it his how often internet access is available to them!) I have little doubt a hand written note would bring at least a little more comfort. Kind of like how a note in the snail mail would more often than not bring a bigger smile to our face than an e-mail or text. Part of me wishes I lived in a time when written (as opposed to typed) correspondence was the norm. It’s something so trivial yet for some unknown reason carries significance for me.
Another little story about my parents, Vietnam & the written word. In my mom’s purse is my dad’s army picture. On the back it starts out with “My dearest Lydia…” It sounds cheesy and generic but he meant it whole-heartedly. Everything he wrote on the back is equally as sincere and sweet. In this digital age, items like that are becoming more and more rare. That’s sad to me because that picture is something my mom obviously still cherishes and something I will cherish after they’re gone. For future generations, saved e-mails and pictures with filenames of “IMG_009933862″ just won’t have the sentimental value that a handwritten note or original photograph would have.
