Favorite Abandonment

Every summer, I restart Don Quixote swearing this time, I’ll get to tilting at windmills. Chuckling at the early pages at a love of mischievous books and adventure. Over identifying with the desire to escape and live among someone else’s words on someone else’s papers.

But life happens. One year, I made it to page 118 (out of 891). That was the year my youngest

daughter turned 3. She’s 7 now. And I’ve read no more pages. I know when I finally do,

it will be my favorite book. So captivated by the voice and humor in those first few pages,

carefully reread each summer for nearly a decade. I know I would enjoy the entire story.

But roofs leak, and basements flood, and children get suspended. Dogs die, puberty hits,

and beach reads take over. One day, perhaps when I am old and grey, I’ll take down that book and gallop with the hero through pages not yet known, but already cherished.