Sisterhood of the Traveling...
Recently, I finished reading Cold Tangerines, a collection of short essays on the joy that can be found in the everyday details of life. The author talks about struggling with her weight, job, house, faith, jealousy, etc., all while finding joy in the small "treasures" that pop into our lives, often without us even noticing. A good reminder that we need to open our eyes a little wider as we trudge through our daily lives...there are gifts to be had, but we probably miss most of them.
It was a book given to me by my friend Jen as a Christmas gift, and as soon as I finished reading it (two days later, I think? It was a quick and addicting read...), I thought about how much I'd like to share the book with some of my girlfriends from high school: Aubrey, Kate, Michele, and Tosha. A few years ago, I bought them the movie "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" as a Christmas gift. It is a somewhat cheesy, sentimental coming-of-age story about the friendship of teenage girls, and though there were only four friends in the books, it reminded me so much of the five of us girls in high school.
I am thankful, and in awe of the fact that, we are all still friends after all these years. There have been periods where we've lost touch, one or two of us, for a time during life events, but we've been lucky enough (thanks, InterWeb!) to re-connect. We've all been through a lot in the past 10 years, since we saw each other daily at school, or spent Saturday nights having our SNL parties...since religiously wearing the necklaces Aubrey made all of us, which announced our nicknames.
We seemed like an impenetrable force back then: friends forever, and all of us very different...not some typical high school clique where all the girls try to talk, look, and act like one another. I am amazed that we were mature enough at that age to be able to appreciate and exploit those differences. Since those simpler days, we've all been through so much: deaths of close family members, divorces, broken hearts, unexpected pregnancies, infidelity, infertility, financial hardships... among us, we've experienced so much, and I feel blessed to have the perspectives of these good friends to help round out my world-view.
Back to the book...I've decided it is one that I want to have "travel" from each of these friends to the other. We'll have the "sisterhood of the traveling book" instead, and hopefully each woman will be able to glean something out of it to help her through her own daily struggles.
The day I finished reading the book, I e-mailed the author to thank her for the words she wrote. She lives in Grand Rapids, and the book was published through a smaller Christian publishing house based there, so it wasn't too difficult to track down this information. Just this morning I received a reply from the author. The author wrote me back! That fact alone, as you can imagine, made me nearly pee my pants...
Her words were so kind and encouraging (I told her I am an 'aspiring writer and mommy', which is true...the two things I want most in life, which are beyond my current reach, but to which I will continue to aspire), and she thanked me for sharing with her how the words she had written touched me. I felt so honored that she'd take the time to write me back.
I'm realizing, more and more every day, that a person's words...that's what matters. No matter how small or expansive, "right-on" or "a little off"--just having someone take the time to say those words or write those words makes all the difference. Words connect us to one another in a way that is un-duplicate-able (see? you all know I love creating my own words). I guess, for that reason, I feel sort of blessed to know that my life's work is all tied up in words (because, holy cow, if that isn't the case, how lost am I?), and I hope they will one day be able to touch people as much as others' have touched me.
In the same vein, I hope that we all realize (self-proclaimed writers or not) what a difference just a few words can make to another person. This particular author's words touched me, and my words, in turn, were "a gift" to her, as she put it. I want to keep this cycle going, and that is why I will continue to publish here, even when no one is reading or commenting. And that is why I will send this book along to those five friends...because words can make all the difference in our daily lives.
-Em
I'm planning to get it cut at the end of next week, which gives me some more time to ponder, further explore, and (as Rachel so smartly put it, "wait for the Clomid to wear off before doing something drastic." -- Long story here, but I had the first Clomid-related symptoms this afternoon...crazy hot flashes...and I briefly considered shearing my own mane with the scissors in my office a la Pedro-in-Napoleon-Dynamite style! LOL). I'll keep you posted. Thanks so much for your suggestions, etc., and please feel free to keep 'em coming. Y'all are so much better at this than I am! 
