Between the Pages

It's midnight and the house is quiet.  Outside, amidst the roaring of the cold winter wind, snow flakes swirl and twirl, like laughter, racing toward the ground.  I sit, still in my Sunday clothes, surrounded by memories, when I should be sleeping beside Honey, a dog warming our feet. 

When Only married 8 months ago, we transitioned Youngest to Only's old room with the loft bed.  Dreams of what the now empty spare room could be, swirled and built, till I shut the door.  Trying to quiet the beckoning it held on me, I avoided it.  Not because I was sad of the new changes, but because I didn't have a plan. 

Through the pages of Little House on the Prairie, Blaze and Billy, Little Critter, Sweet Potato Pie, Robert Frost, Lentil, Love You Forever, Napping House, Chicka-Chicka-Boom Boom, and more, I watched my kids learn to enjoy books, but also learn to read. It wasn't until about seven years ago, when I first packed these books up, but they protested over and over... "don't put THAT book away, it's my favorite!"  

Now I sit, dogs slumbering at the door, with my back against a Pack-n-Play crib, smiling.  I sort and pack sweet memories, until they make an appearance once again, to become favorites all over again with our kids reading to their kids, making the stories come to life, and we find our friends between the pages once again.  

Lynnet