"Hello"

 

I was listening to one of my favorite television shows, "CBS Sunday Morning,"  – listening because I was sorting laundry, getting ready for the workweek ahead – when I heard an interviewer talking to author Charlie Mackesy, about his book, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse.

I smiled as I listened to the interviewer reading from the book, like when the mole asked the boy what he wanted to be when he grew up, and the boy answered, “Kind.”  And when the boy asked the horse, “What’s the bravest thing you’ve ever said?” and the horse answered, “Help,” which really got my attention because I’ve had to ask for help myself from time to time - even when there wasn’t much time between the askings.

 I decided right then and there I would give copies of this book to my children, my grandchildren, and great-grandchildren because I want them to know that asking for help isn't giving up. It's the opposite of giving up, and because as Mackesy wrote, "This book is for everyone, whether you are eighty or eight. I feel like both sometimes.” So do I! And I’m willing to bet that you do too. That is, if you are eighty, you sometimes feel like eight. And if you are eight, you sometimes feel like – well, maybe not.

 Anyway, I love this book. I love that it begins with the word “Hello," and ends with “Thank you.” I love that the book is about friendship, that the illustrations are simple but effective, that the pages aren’t numbered so you can start reading at the end and go backward or in the middle and go in whichever direction you choose, and because it reminded me of something a friend said once when I was complaining about something I'd lost, telling me that I, (and you, and probably everyone) "can live without everything  - except a friend."