Reads of 2018

• The Book of Mormon

• All the Ever Afters by Danielle Teller

• The Ragged Edge of Night by Olivia Hawker

• Agatha Raisin and the Potted Gardener by MC Beaton

• Dragonwatch by Brandon Mull

• Agatha Raisin and the Vicious Vet by MC Beaton

• A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park

• Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

• One by One by David A Bednar

• The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown

• Heir to Edenbrook by Julianne Donaldson

• Flat Broke with Two Goats by Jennifer McGaha

• Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson

• The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba

• The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

• The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden

• Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death by MC Beaton

• The Dressmaker of Khair Khana by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon and Sarah Zimmerman

• The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

• Outcasts United by Warren St. John

• The Lady in Gold by Anne-Marie O'Connor

• Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick

• The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest by Melanie Dickerson

• Starflight by Melissa Landers

• The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

• The Element by Ken Robinson, PhD

• Wrath of the Storm by Jennifer A. Nielsen

• Rise of the Wolf by Jennifer A. Nielsen

• The Self-Driven Child by William Strixrud, PhD, and Ned Johnson

• The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Sendker

• Elmet by Fiona Mozley

• Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt

• The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson

• The Librarian of Auschwitz by Antonio Iturbe

• Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

• The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

• Mark of the Thief by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Origins and Inspiration

Sleigh bells. Candy canes. Angels. Manger scenes. Stockings. Santa Claus. Reindeer. All the trappings for a perfect holiday season. Except at our house we needed something more.

Last Christmas the kids came home from school with the typical array of decorations and colored pages. Then Aiden presented me with a delicious surprise. At first glance I saw a standard reindeer with handprint antlers. Another clever use of kindergarten-sized mitts. Then I noticed the reindeer’s expression. Rather than a jolly, “merry Christmas” style grin, I was faced with severe eyebrows, a down-turned mouth, and rather ferocious teeth. It fairly growled at me.

I laughed. “Why is your reindeer so angry?” I asked.

Aiden looked at it and said, “He’s evil.” No further explanation.

But now I had an evil reindeer on my hands. I couldn’t have imagined a more thorough contradiction to everything Christmas represents. I guess if you think about it, a reindeer could have plenty to be angry about during this time of year. I’d be pretty grumpy, too, if I had a worldwide trip ahead of me with no allowances for nasty weather and nothing to keep my toes warm on snowy rooftops.

I doubt Aiden put that much thought into the “why” of his angry reindeer, but the mere contradiction completely hit my funny bone. The evil, angry reindeer promptly found a spot on the refrigerator door, where it remained long after the other Christmas decorations had returned to their boxes. I just didn’t have the heart to take it down because it came to represent several things for me. It served as a reminder of how my kids brighten my days. How their views of the world make me smile. How each member of our family is individual and creative and inspiring. How I can find joy in the smallest moments. How love can grow sometimes imperceptibly and sometimes by leaps and bounds so my heart feels like it will burst.

Eventually I did remove the angry reindeer from its place of honor on the refrigerator. Mostly I was afraid it would get ruined if left there too long. It needed to be preserved in the safety of the filing cabinet. But every so often I will open the reindeer’s secluded drawer just to put that smile back on my face, to remember that life can be unexpected and inexplicable and maybe even a little bit wicked but wonderful just the same.

Fly

I pulled into my driveway a recent sunny morning and saw on my lawn a couple of birds in search of their breakfast. One, I quickly noticed, had a strange rhythm to its hop. Looking closer I could see one leg severely twisted, its foot facing an unnatural direction. The little bird couldn't support much weight on the leg, but it wobbled undeterred and energetic in its quest for food. Before long it found what it was searching for and, in a burst of surprising power, lifted toward the sky.

I watched until the bird disappeared and sat pondering the inevitable metaphors found in this quiet scene. The most resonant for me right now relates to one of the jobs I've had this past school year. After I agreed to do recess duty, the secretary told me they had a need for someone to work as a part time aide for a handicapped third grade boy. He already had a full time aide, but because of certain policy changes, she could only work a set number of hours and another person was needed to cover the remaining hours of the school day.

The job description essentially requires me to be his hands. His condition is some big long word that starts with an a which affected his development in utero. He has very little muscle in his arms and legs. Much like the little bird's foot, his hands are misshapen, the fingers basically unusable. So while he is in a mainstream classroom - Spanish immersion at that - he needs a wheelchair to get around and can't hold a pencil in his hands.

But enough of what he can't do. Here's what has been a marvelous, surprising, uplifting revelation to me. He was telling me something one day and mentioned just as naturally as could be how he was "differently-abled" and then carried on with the rest of his story. Of course, I'd heard the term used before, but now I was witnessing on a fairly intimate level the truth of the phrase. Undoubtedly there are some things he will never do as well or as easily as his peers. But he can do many things and remarkably well. He uses his mouth for most things we use our hands -- writing, turning pages, even folding paper. I dare anyone to challenge him to a spit wad contest. He uses his arm to drive and steer his wheelchair, which he can maneuver forward and backward with impressive accuracy. He participates in soccer and dodge ball and tag games without hesitation. He's enthusiastic about physical therapy. He had a surgery a few months ago to remove some hardware from his legs placed there during an unsuccessful operation last summer. He came back to school excited about the new braces he would wear that would help support his knees enough that he can stand with minimal support and even walk, aided, around the school. He is not ashamed of his differences and has rallied many other children around him. They cheer his successes and are true friends.

I had a moment during one of his physical therapy sessions watching while the therapist held his body so he could stand straight and tall. Usually, because of the lack of muscle to support his frame, he leans far forward and has little balance. But as he stood there that day, I envisioned him whole and strong. I thought of how his mother and father must see him, not just as a condition requiring 24 hour assistance, but as a child of God with unlimited potential. It's easy to quickly see the defects and disabilities, just as I could easily spot the broken foot on the little bird. But with a change of perspective, an expanded vision, I began to witness the power with which and the heights to which he can and will fly.

Reads of 2016

• Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee
• The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
• The Upstairs Room by Johanna Reiss
• Wild by Cheryl Strayed
• Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth
• Like a River Glorious by Rae Carson
• Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg
• Dear Mr. Knightley by Katherine Reay
• A Room with a View by E.M. Forster
• All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
• The Mapmaker's Children by Sarah McCoy
• The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery
• The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
• Girl on a Wire by Gwenda Bond
• This is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith
• A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
• When Calls the Heart by Janette Oke
• The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown
• Freckles by Gene Stratton Porter
• Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson
• Timebound by Rysa Walker
• Our Sacred Honor by Ron Carter
• Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
• Winter by Marissa Meyer
• Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
• Mary Anne by Daphne du Maurier
• A Painted House by John Grisham

Reads of 2015

• Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall
• A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg
• Rules by Cynthia Lord
• Goodbye Stranger by Rebecca Stead
• Dust of Eden by Mariko Nagai
• Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie
• These Is My Words by Nancy Turner
• Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt
• Testimony of an Irish Slave Girl by Kate McCafferty
• And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
• Charles and Emma: The Darwin's Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman
• The Mermaid's Sister by Carrie Anne Noble
• How to Be a Heroine by Samantha Ellis
• Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen
• War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
• We Die Alone by David Howarth
• An Irish Country Doctor by Patrick Taylor
• Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
• Peony by Pearl S. Buck
• The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith
• The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
• Enchantment by Orson Scott Card
• Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
• Gray Mountain by John Grisham
• Paperboy by Vince Vawter
• I Am David by Anne Holm
• Gifted Hands by Ben Carson, M.D.
• Ruins by Dan Wells
• The Scorch Trials by James Dashner
• Skinny by Donna Cooner
• Guitar Notes by Mary Amato

Proud Mama Moments

Here we are creeping up on [actually more like bounding toward] the end of the school year, and before we leave it all behind I want to make mention of a few notable items. April and May have been particularly busy and eventful.

Caleb: Starting in December, Caleb participated in the winter drumline. This was new to me, so if you're also wondering what that is, let me briefly explain. It's basically like a marching band field show minus all the wind instruments -- percussion only here -- and is performed indoors. They practiced many hours during the week and on Saturdays, which practice ultimately payed off. They took 2nd place in the state competition for their show titled "Dante's Inferno." If you want a sampling of what they looked like, here's part of it. This is early in the season, so they still had some work to do. Caleb is the lanky hooded figure in the front row on the left side.

Marissa: The last few months for Marissa were filled with basketball and track. She has been practicing with the high school basketball teams and participating in some tournaments with them. Her time to shine, however, was at the regional track meet. She competed in the shot put and 4 x 100 relay. Her relay team came in 4th place. But best of all, she won the shot put for the 8th grade girls with a distance of 32' 11"! And ... even with her busy schedule she has stayed on the honor roll and looks like she'll get a 4.0 this term.

Aiden: It's a good thing we like to watch basketball, cause that's what we do. Aiden finished up the regular season well, winning the championship game for 5th graders, and has since been focused on his traveling team. They had some polishing to do since they hadn't really been practicing together, but after a rough start they picked it up and started playing more like a team. In their most recent tournament, they finished in 1st place for their bracket. For school, he had to give an ancestor report in Spanish [that means using mostly past tense!] and got an A+.

Morgan: It may not seem like a big deal to some, but Morgan overcame some anxiety and trepidation to perform two songs in her piano recital. I tried to convince her to perform an original composition she titled "Follow Your Destiny," but she decided it was too personal to share with an audience. She did a wonderful job and was very poised in spite of her butterflies. She also mastered 214 out of 217 spelling words for the 2nd grade and has lovely cursive penmanship which she practices in very sweet letters to all the members of our family.

So there you have it. Sometimes a mom just has to brag. Better than all this, though, is that they are just genuinely good kids. They help me and are kind to each other. We laugh a lot together. I'm not sure how I got to be so lucky!