In November I looked at the calendar one Tuesday afternoon and realized that I’d completely forgotten book club that day. I shrugged my shoulders and was like “meh.” My last 2 book clubs here in Oregon have been better, though—I’ve enjoyed the book conversation and the other conversation as well. Last month at the last minute I offered to host, so the day before was spent cleaning, trying to be sure that everything visible would look decent the next day. As I was laying in bed that night thinking of the things I needed to do the next morning (ours here is a lunch-time book club) I started thinking of all of the wonderful Durham book club memories I had…
Do you remember years ago when we used to meet in the church, in the Relief Society room?
Do you remember when we had the Twilight discussion and twenty-five (TWENTY-FIVE!!!) women showed up to Lindsay’s small townhouse?!?
Do you remember when Martha had to host book club all the time because Richard was on call again?
Do you remember how no book club evening was complete without one of Tami’s awesome stories? Seriously, I told the one about Isaac under the xray machine at the airport just last weekend while I was in Utah.
Do you remember how you all let me hold your sweet babies, which I loved so much?
Do you remember the night we talked about Killer Angels, and we congratulated ourselves on having such a long discussion on a book without a single woman in it?
Do you remember reading Dr. Laura’s book, and the Happiness Project, and the book about the restaurant critic,and Malcolm Gladwell, and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle?
Do you remember the month that we read the Mother Styles book, and how we each told something we’d learned about ourselves. Do you remember how amazing it was to realize that we actually were all different, and that was ok?
Do you remember when Becky read the wrong book?
Do you remember when Melissa cleaned her bathroom with a sock?
Do you remember how many people came who never read the book, but just knew that it was going to be awesome anyway?
Do you remember that one year when the ward was so big that book club was almost too big some of the time?
Do you remember the book about the ER doctor, and how I learned so much from all of my resident-wife friends that night about the challenges of being a doctor?
Do you remember having the September choose-the-books-for-the-year book clubs at my house –with chocolate fondue?
Do you remember the ongoing battle between Team Edward and Team Jacob?
Do you remember that one time in the late spring we left Amy’s house super late—maybe 12:30AM, and it was still 83 degrees! (I’m pretty sure I drove home with the top down!)
Do you remember how almost no one was on time, but how we’d all show up in dribs and drabs, sometimes laughing and already engaged in conversation with whoever else had shown up at the same time?
Do you remember Audrey’s driveway in the dark?
Do you remember feeling the spirit in our conversations? Do you remember laughing until we cried? (The ugly laugh!) Do you remember the night we talked about our most embarrassing giving-birth moments and then cautioned each other “what happens at book club stays at book club!”
Do you remember the spider???
Do you remember that one night when everyone went home at 10:30? NO—because that never happened!!
I lay there in bed that night smiling to myself…thinking of how many wonderful book club memories are tucked away in my mind and especially in my heart. Sure I appreciated the books we read. But even more I appreciated the bonds that we formed and the love that we shared.
What do you remember???
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