Spreading the bookish love....

I love sharing books and bookish things with people. My friend Sherrie called tonight for the first time in a while. We taught at the same high school in North Carolina--me in the English department, she in the Spanish department. We both hated it together. Not the kids much, but the bitchy portions ofthe faculty and the stereotypical small town attitude that excluded all newcomers. In the face of adversity we leaned on each other. We would often (1-2 times a week) run away to a restaurant somewhere outside of town RIGHT AFTER school...around 3:30...to sit, eat, and vent. We would discuss our hardships, the good stuff, and our hopes for the future. I got out after one year and three weeks of teaching the 9th, 10th, and 11th grades. Sherrie is still there, finishing up her third year teaching Spanish I. She's a trooper...that's all I've got to say!

Sherrie and I always enjoyed doing cultural things when we had the opportunity. We went to Chapel Hill to loaf on the campus of the University of North Carolina (her alma mater). We'd run off to the beach just to drive around and talk. We would go to Books-a-Million just to browse and sit and drink coffee and be.

It's been almost two years since I left NC and I've only seen Sherrie once since then. We still talk on the phone, try to motivate one another, and just be good long-distance friends. I think of her often, many times when I'm walking through a book store or reading a passage that I think she'd especially like.

Tonight I packaged up a duplicate copy of The Hours that's been sitting on my dresser for what seems like forever. I know she'll love the passage on page 225 that's taken its place among my all-time favorite book passages.

I look forward to her opening the package of little goodies I'm sending her. I hope they lift her spirits the way her phone call lifted mine tonight. She's thinking of coming to Texas this summer for a week or even a weekend. I can't wait to show her around! I miss our talks.