To New Beginnings

by

Anne Michael

I was given a wonderful and unique opportunity by Lauren Roberts more than three years ago to write for Bibliobuffet. Not everyone is so blessed to have a dream come true. It has been an experience I have treasured and enjoyed. Like a first love, the memory of this experience will stay with me until the end of my days. Since I plan to live to be 100, I expect I shall revel in the memory many times. 

It has been great fun to share with you the view from my corner of the world. I’ve loved introducing you to the wonderful people I live with and around. Learning to read made my life special and was probably the most important thing I have ever done. The books I’ve read and how they’ve affected me has been a blessing to share with all of you.

I have adored the e-mails and stories many of you have sent in response to something I’ve written that recalled for you a fond memory of a person or a forgotten experience. I have been honored when you have sent me your kind thoughts and wonderful stories. Some of you have written almost every week. Wow! Thank you for that. You absolutely made a great many of those weeks better for me. I have walked around with lots of smiles. Your questions, your encouragement, your stories and your ideas assured me I was not wasting my time. That has been a treasure! You gave me hope, you taught me much and you expanded my horizons by suggesting books for me to read. I haven’t gotten to them all yet, but I am working on it and loving the serenity of the hours I spend relaxing with a book suggested by you. 

My husband can sit behind the wheel of a car and drive for hour after endless hour, forever intrigued with the road ahead. He will only stop when he has worn himself out, so eager is he to see what is around the next corner. As a frequent passenger on his road trips I wear out long before he does. His zeal for the small towns, the black lines and the meandering roads knows no bounds. He hates to backtrack so we usually return home by a different route. Like the way Steve drives, I can read and write for hours, only stopping when I cannot hold my eyes open another moment. And like every trip, every book and every story has an end.

So I come to the end of my time with Bibliobuffet. It is time for me to see what is around the next bend. I want to see if there is a book in me that wants to be written. I’d like to write pieces on other subjects. I want to learn to write poetry. It was not an easy decision to reach but there were more reasons to go than to stay. I know you understand, friends, because you too have encountered crossroads many times and have had to make those types of bittersweet decisions for yourselves. I have arrived at mine.
 
This week is when I say thank you, dear readers, for reading my column over the years. I am humbled and grateful for your support, interest, enthusiasm and humor.  It is, however time to close this chapter of my life. I wish you an unending supply of good books and a life that is always seasoned lightly with humor, friendship, laughter, joy and curiosity in equal parts. I hope the vista from your heart is always peaceful and your troubles few. May your bookshelves be a place of continued adventure, solace and pleasure always.
 
 
At age 10, Anne realized she was never going to get to be Miss America since reading a book was not an acceptable talent. So she went on to get a job and raise a family. Along the way, she fixed meals, picked up toys, helped with homework, and collected a drawer full of rejection slips for her “great American novel.” It was not all bad, however, since she ended up wallpapering a closet with them. She currently designs and creates greeting cards for her tiny company, The Frog Prints, LLC, and also works full-time as a Training Specialist. Anne is currently tethered to reality by a loving spouse, two dogs and the occasional hurricane that blows through Florida, although falling headlong and happily into a book is still her favorite “talent.” Contact Anne.