My Father Made a Book

My father made a book. Literally. When he was in his mid-80's he decided he wanted to learn bookbinding so... he found a class and made a little book. Full of blank pages ready to be filled. I wish he had filled them! He has had an amazing life. We get snippets of it periodically in his emails when he's so moved. He's written a couple little documents with his life history. At his 90th birthday bash we found out a bit more from the life-long friends and colleagues that attended from all over the country.

At almost 92 years old (his birthday is Oct 19) Dad is still a voracious reader. Non-fiction for sure. He is a continuous student of the sciences (health-related), philosophy, and politics. He even put together a little book of his own he entitled "Tidbits." Full of the important quotes he has found in the past 20 years, or so. (This must be where I get my attraction to such things.) His favorite? "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he."

A few years ago my dad was clearing out his bookcases to make room for his newest acquisitions and I was going through the boxes of books to see if there was anything I might be interested in. There I found the little book my dad had made. There was no way I was going to let that one go to a church rummage sale! It was something my dad made (yes, I'm a little bit of a hero-worshiper when it comes to my dad).

Since then it has been sitting on my shelf and I have wondered what to do with it. It's too good to just be a "note" book. Inserting pictures wouldn't work, either. It finally dawned on me (yes, I'm a little slow on the uptake most of the time) that I should use it in a way he would appreciate -- record "great quotations" that I find through my readings. Beginning with some of his.