Word Power

At a baby shower recently, one of the gifts was Shel Silverstein’s Where The Sidewalk Ends. The first thing the mother-to-be did was open the front cover and say, “Oh good, you wrote in it.” And I reflected for a moment on all the inscriptions I’ve seen this year during our reading experiment--some written in crude baby letters, some written by beloved people long gone, some wise and profound, others silly or cryptic. I’ve had so many sweet moments this year turning to flyleaf pages as the faces and voices of dear people have come to life again, that I wish I’d done this sooner. But one aspect I did not expect was to encounter the sentiments of so many folks I’ve never met. In order to keep our stock replenished without breaking the bank, we did a lot of shopping at thrift stores, checking out offers on Freecycle, and rummaging through yard sale stacks, so we brought plenty of previously-owned reading material home. And it made me sad how often these books had heartfelt inscriptions now cast aside. I can’t imagine discarding a book with the words of someone I love inside, but, on the bright side, the books we added to our collection have found new life and become valuable again. My Hidden Treasure Chest’s God’s Special Gifts To Me was designed specifically for one little girl named Chelsi. I don’t know how her book ended up at the thrift store, but it’s got a new home now.

http://myhiddentreasurechest.com/personalized_books