Sadness and Action

Last week I received an e-mail that made me so sad. It was a letter from the President of Borders Books. Borders has been closing down stores for a while, but this e-mail announced that the entire chain would be closing. This makes me so incredibly sad. I will admit that I don't often buy books, mostly I check them out at the library, but the reason for not buying is purely financial. If I had money I would have bookshelves full of glorious books. There is something wonderful about holding a book in my hands, feeling the pages, smelling that book smell, seeing the beautiful cover artwork. I love it when books include hand-written notes from the characters. It makes them that much more personal. When I pick up a book I feel the characters in it's weight, their situations and personalities and stories. They become real to me. Now I don't own an e-reader of any kind and have never really looked in depth at one. I can see the advantage, having a whole library in one little electronic device, being able to take that library anywhere and it not taking up space. I totally get it. But I feel this weight of sadness in my heart at the thought that this chain of bookstores is now closing. Is this what is in store for us? I sure hope not.

When I read books like Matched and Awaken where the characters don't know how to write other than on a computer and they don't even know what a pencil is, where their entire existence happens in front of the computer screen, well it doesn't seem that far off. It has been talked of recently to stop teaching children how to write cursive in school. That too makes me sick. I read on a book review blog recently that the reviewer had a hard time understanding the book because much of it was written in hand-written notes all written in cursive and she couldn't read it. To think that my children might not be able to read my Grandma's journals because they cannot read cursive is a horrible thought. I have vowed to myself that even if they stop teaching it in schools I will make sure my children know how to read and write in cursive. It's too important not to learn. I feel passionately about this.

I see things in this world spinning out of control and sometimes I feel there is nothing I can do to change it, so I sit by resigned and panicked. Like watching the talks about the debt ceiling debate. I feel horror at where our country is headed. Even though I don't have control over the debt ceiling or Border's closing, I can do my part. I can take my children to the library and keep reading books to them and teaching them what I feel is important. I can make a difference even if it is just within the walls of my own home.