Same difference

When my kids say to me same difference what they mean is close enough!

I've recently read two books that are the same but different - close enough to link together in this post. Both are somewhat autobiographical, and both present stories and reflections. Kitchen table wisdom is thoughtful; Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life is comedic.

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Kitchen Table Wisdom shares a story called The Container which I first heard in the January 2003 Primary Broadcast in a talk by Gayle M. Clegg. I would have read this book long ago if I had checked the source of the container story in her talk. The whole book is filled with stories and wisdom. I'll share one story.

The Task Gets Between Us is a story about a man who enjoys mountain climbing with his son until he (the dad) becomes ill and can no longer climb mountains. The father describes the change in his relationship with his son:

"I can't do much just now, so we sit and talk. I ask him about his life and how he feels about it. For the first time I know what is important to him, what sort of a man he is, what keeps him going. And I talk to him too. I know now that I am important to him, that he wants to spend time with me and not because we can do physical things together. Sometimes we just sit together, being alive. The mountain got between us before. I had not known that."

For me this was a good reminder that quality time is about relating to each other, and also made me look at the 'mountains' in my own life.

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On the lighter side, I just finished reading Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life. I didn't connect with everything Amy Krouse Rosenthal had to share, but here is a sample that rang true to me:

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Approachers

People are either approachers or avoiders. Approachers will dart across a crowded room and enthusiastically state the obvious: "It's you! We went to camp together! I haven't seen you since we were ten!" An avoider, in the same situation, would make no effort whatsoever to reconnect. They reason: So we once knew each other. That in and of itself is not interesting. I have no desire to acknowledge that we once, long ago, roasted marshmallows together. It will only be awkward to make small talk, and our shared campfire history is of no consequence. I see you. And you see me. That is enough. And while the avoider chooses not to approach, the approacher really has no conscious choice in the matter; approaching is just what they do.

My inner dialogue is often about talking myself into saying hello, so I don't really fit either classification, but obviously I lean towards being an avoider. Approaching isn't just what I do.

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I'm going to try to break this post up into two pieces and paste it into Good Reads. (Do you live in more than one cyber community? Good Reads is a nice neighborhood, I'd recommend it!) My next book is Lassie Come Home. Carmen gave it to me for my birthday. She saw me consider it at her school book fair, so the next day she took her own money to school and bought it for me. I think it was my favorite birthday gift.

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