My happiest news in ages is that the branch library one block away––Roosevelt (for Teddy)––opened this week. I got tears of happiness when I saw their OPEN sign lit up in green again.
It'd closed exactly one year ago, when the governor's Stay-at-Home executive order went into effect on March 17, 2020.
This
winter I was clearing some clutter, and I came across a little jar of
my father's ashes that my sister had given me to disperse as I wanted.
(She took hers to California, to a spot on the beach of the Pacific
Ocean where she and our father liked to go.)
Spreading the ashes didn't mean that much to me, honestly, but I thought, what the
heck--the one thing my father and I totally shared was a love of books, reading and writing, and
libraries.
After he retired, he'd walk every day with his laptop to the
library downtown--the one I grew up going to.
(I know he'd be proud of my job as Book Lady.)
(I know he'd be proud of my job as Book Lady.)
So a couple weeks ago, when I was out walking the dog, I took the ashes along and sprinkled my father's ashes (dumped, really--they had clumped up in the almost-four years since he died) in the bushes at this branch library.
I figure any library stands for all libraries.
It pleased me, and I'm sure it would please him very much too.
My branch isn't open every day, and I haven't been in it yet.
I assume you can't linger, but I do want to at least RETURN MY BOOKS, which are a year overdue.
This morning I'm going to get a gift card from the coffee shop a couple blocks from the library and give it to the librarians as a Welcome Back.
Absolutely the best place for your Dad. He is very proud of you, spoken in present tense because, who knows? I still have most of my Mom on the shelf, I took my brother to Norway and Italy and England. My Dad is still somewhere in Colorado, left with my brother's wife. It is OK though, he was not a sentimental man. Glad your library is opening a little bit. Covid loves the idea.
ReplyDeleteHmm, I have ashes of both of my parents and have often wondered where they would be best at home.
ReplyDeleteOur library has been open since October but only for pick-up and drop-off. No use of the library to sit and read yet. They do have computers for use but an hour usage and users are spread-out. The computer usage was one of the first parts of the library to open as they realized some members of the community do not have access to home computers.
Kirsten
That's a lovely thing-your Dad will be helping the plants around the library grow! The gift card for the librarians is also lovely.
ReplyDeleteIn Ohio libraries are still curbside. Bummer. Your dad is pleased, though.
ReplyDeleteA library is a good choice. Lee Hays, member of the Weavers, directed that his ashes be added to his compost pile.
ReplyDeleteSomething I learned several years ago: never ask officialdom about whether it’s okay to scatter ashes in a particular location. Just do it, discreetly.
Both of my parents wanted their ashes in the ocean to float "home" to Germany, so I kept a teaspoonful of each and placed it under a rose bush ( four years apart and two different houses) and my brother took the ashes to Western Australia and let them go somewhere up on the coast.
ReplyDelete