In this hundredth anniversary year of the Newbery Awards, I’ve decided to see how close I can come to reading all the ones I haven’t already read. I’ve completed the list back to 1988 along with a number of earlier winners. In reading, I have come across some ideas hidden in those books that I am going to call “Newbery Nugget Notions.” I will address them periodically in this blog.
The first comes from Sarah, Plain and Tall whose author, Patricia MacLachlan, died in March. In a touching scene near the end of the book, Sarah returns to the prairie after her visit home near her beloved seascape. Anna, who yearned for Sarah to marry her widowed father and become her stepmother, tells her she was afraid that Sarah would not return because of her love for the sea. Sarah replies, “There is always something to miss,” and goes on to say she would miss Anna, her brother Caleb, and their father Jacob even more than she misses the sea.
This book was an end-of-school appreciation gift from a parent the year it won the Newbery. So many times and in so many ways, the words, “always having something to miss” have come back to me. I think of the four countries and six states where we have lived with each having places and people that I miss.
I think of a recurring family scene after my three sisters and I grew up. By comparing notes, we eventually saw a pattern in our return home visits. If three of us were there, Mama talked incessantly about how much she missed the marvelous absent sister. The three who came, could almost draw the conclusion that they might as well have stayed home since it was the missing sibling that was really important to her. We figured this quirky habit out and passed along to the absent sister how much Mama had wanted her there. Still, I had to wonder if Mama might have enjoyed our visits better if she had majored on her daughters who were present.
This last week, I thought about Sarah’s words as I looked at the last stem of daylilies for this year. Knowing these are the last buds, I’ve been a bit sad to see the end of the season. Right beside them, brightly colored peppers only have another month or so before they’re gone. For three seasons, I will miss them. Still, purple asters have grown tall, almost ready to bloom, golden chrysanthemums have buds, and surprise lilies will pop up suddenly around the last of September. Winter holly and nandina berries will follow and make way for spring. Even in the flower garden there is always something to miss. I, too, need to enjoy the beauty of each day.
If I may add an Aesopian lesson to Sarah’s words, we would do well to cherish the memories of those things we miss, but we should never let that nostalgia keep us from relishing the moment. So, for today, I’m appreciating the last of the day lilies and the spectacular multicolored peppers, knowing that they will soon be in the category of things to miss.