book club

My mother's move prompted me to reconnect with some of her long-time friends. What wonderful women and wonderful memories. Their friendship began and strengthened through participation in a monthly book club.They all had their favorite parts of book club. Marsha loved WWII and inspirational literature introducing the members to works like The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Bloom and The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

Lynn favored leading the discussions with thoughtful questions from fastidious notes taken as she read each and every book, often the first to obtain a copy and read. Mom contributed her love for British literature, which for a awhile also included volumes of the No.1 Ladies Detective Agency series, and novels by Anne Perry. Candi and Sydney, her mother in law, faithfully attended and contributed to book discussions and occasional organized movie viewing for a book at the Pine Valley Ranch theater room. Glynis leaned toward non-fiction and philosophical books.

I was among several others who attended for a season or as life permitted.  I introduced novels like All Together In One Place by Jane Kirkpatrick and Tending Roses by Lisa Wingate. Kim  engaged us one December with a month of Christmas picture books.

Initially the club met in one another's homes on rotation with the hostess leading the discussion and serving book related refreshments.

Gradually, the book club met in a single home, accessible to those requiring mobility aids.

The friendships sparked through these experiences have endured and supported one another through the changes of time. Lynn, Marsha, and Mom are living inspiration for one another, each now a widow, reconnecting intermittently but often near in thoughts and hearts.

I have been inspired by their strength through struggles, humor in their foibles, and their faithfulness to the gospel of Jesus Christ throughout their lives regardless of circumstances.

It was wonderful to think of them, reconnecting through yet another change in life's journey.