The Mercy of Thin Air

I usually don't care for "Ghost Stories." But this month Suzanne Dean's Bookendz Book Club read the Mercy of Thin Air by Ronlyn Domingue. While it was difficult getting started with it eventually I started enjoying the setting-which takes place in the 1920's and the romance of  the "ghost." I never got into the whole concept of going from this world into the next, my Christian beliefs just weren't taking the author's path. And I have to say I would never have read this book on my own. But I certainly did enjoy the romance part of the book. And having a few family antiques at home, it certainly raised my curiosity on the stories they would tell, especially the desk on which my computer sits.

 It was my Grandmother's desk on which she planned her teaching lessons. My grandmother was a "lawbreaker." She secretly married my grandfather in another state and then went back and taught school, because in the 1920's in Michigan it was against the law to be married and to be a teacher.

My grandmother gave me the desk the Christmas before she died. My grandmother was my best friend.  And the last conversation I had with my grandmother was the week before I graduated from college as a special education teacher. I told her I was afraid to graduate because I didn't know anything about teaching and now I was going to have to stand on my own two feet. She cried and said, "Everything is going to be OK now. I am so glad you called. My little girl has finally grown up." (She usually yelled at me for calling and wasting money on a long distance phone call.) I sobbed afterwards because somehow I knew it was going to be our last conversation. And sure enough two days later she had a massive heart attack and died as she was getting ready to go out with her retired teaching friends to celebrate her birthday. She missed the graduation of her only grandchild that became a teacher and  my wedding 2 months later. To say she was missed was an understatement. 30 years later I still find myself talking to her in my head and asking her how she thinks I should handle a difficult situation. But even more I wish I could go back and ask her about growing up at the end of the Victorian age and changing from those dresses to wearing pant suits! Or her feelings about traveling by horse and buggy to owning a Buick with air conditioning! Can you just imagine???

And I think that's why scrapbooking is so important to me today. I wish my grandmother would have left a journal or a scrapbook. I wish I had all of her stories before I was born. There's nothing I can do to correct the lost past, but I am hoping that my future grandchildren will know my stories.

Part of belonging to this Book Club is doing a project that ties in with the book. The "ghost" in the story was not allowed to touch those she loved. And I felt this quote from Helen Keller was so appropriate, The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart." Which is EXACTLY the message behind the novel.

Supplies:

Paper and Cardstock : Kaisercraft English Rose

Embellishments: Hero Arts Pearls, Micheals flowers, Kaisercraft English Rose rub- ons

Have a wonderful day filled with the memories of loved ones!

Elizabeth