I recently reread the first part of ‘Bridge to Terabithia’. I read it before, a long time ago. There were many things I remembered, phrases that have stuck with me through the years, ideas I still dwell on. Such as how she describes seventh graders, that phrase comes into my head all the time when I am thinking about middle schoolers.
There were also many things I had forgotten. Such as how mean the kids are in the book. Seriously. I would hate to meet any of those kids, and I am an adult.
Other things I didn’t care about when I read it as a teenager, but I care about now. Such as how the teacher acts in the classroom, or how the parents treat their children.
This is part of why I love books, different things strike you at different times. A well written book can have so many layers, some of which you will see at one period of life, and others you will see in another period of life. Books, stories, aren’t static, they grow with you in all seasons.
This time, rereading the book, what particularly stuck out to me was the behavior of Jessie’s parents. They live on a farm, but it isn’t doing well. His father has to travel long distances to work, and his mother is left to struggle through a little homestead. Not enough farm to make a living, not enough money to leave the farm. The book is not a glowing recommendation of farming. The parents are exhausted, checked out, and grumpy with their children. Not because they don’t like their children, but because they are so busy making enough money, preserving enough food, to keep their children fed, they have no energy left over to pour into those very children they are so busy providing for. The very attitudes of the parents makes farming look unappealing. You get the idea the older girls will make a break for it as soon as they can.
All of this makes me consider deeply my own life choices. We recently bought a few acres, to garden in, to build on, to invest in. We are attempting to create a family legacy of working on the land and growing our own food. Something we can pass down to our children, and their children. But will our children even want it?
I don’t know. I can’t predict the actions and decisions of people who are yet to even exist. But I can decide how I will present it to them.
I want living closely with the land, growing some of our own food, raising animals, to look inviting and appealing. I want to raise my children to love the lifestyle we have. One way I can do that is to be grateful and to look at life with a positive attitude. I have a leg up on the parents in the book, because I have chosen this lifestyle, while they may not have been able to choose. I have chosen this life, and I can choose to be happy in it. If I can keep hard work and fun in balance, this lifestyle will also look more appealing. It is not easy to put down the work, the never ending to do list, and rest. But it is just as important as the to do list itself. Balance and time for fun will make our life look beautiful and happy. Not only look, but be beautiful and happy.
These are things I hope to show my future children, things I hope will draw them towards this life we are building together, not push them away from it.
I don’t want to be like the parents in ‘Bridge to Terabithia’. It is my new goal in life. Among many.
Well, if rereading part of a book gives me this much to think about, perhaps I should be rereading more often. Hm.
Have a beautiful day.
Shaina Merrick
The Beauty of a Story 