When visiting my daughter in California I often come across good books to read due to the entire family being voracious readers down to the 12 year old.
I've read a variety of subjects, from suicide, special pets, to best sellers. All enjoyable. But one book remains one of my favorites, a simple, beautifully written memoir of Anne Morrow Lindbergh when she spent a vacation alone in a small cottage on Captiva island off the Florida Gulf Coast.
What I like best about this "Gift from the Sea" is the way Lindbergh correlates seashells to the various stages of adult womanhood. You'll have to read the book to understand.
This is the second time I've read this work. I choose to read it at the beginning of a new year to further ground my outlook of life now as a senior.
Fascinating for me is to realize that although Anne Lindbergh suffered through the terrible tragedy of the murder of their infant son, she found strength through her writing, her husband, and in later years her five children.
Not all of us can spend a week or two in solitude on a remote island. But what we can do is step into Anne Lindbergh's experience, read about her journey, and discover that each one of us has the capacity to be a whole person no matter what life hands us.
Please let me know if you have read this book or plan to. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
Cheers!
Nancy Jill
Most of the women I know work outside the home. If there are children at home, finding solitude can be elusive, if at all. One woman really needed solitude for survival. Her name was Anne Morrow Lindbergh and she went through the horrendous trial of having their 20 month old baby kidnapped and murdered, not too far from their home. What most people don't know is that she went on to have five more children and lived a full and productive life as a bestselling author. I read her book, Gift from the Sea, last summer, while staying with my grandchildren, and I was enthralled at the loveliness of the book. Anne's children insisted she be given two weeks alone on an private island to renew herself every year. This she did, and wrote comparing the various stages in the life of life a woman to different shells she had collected. The book is beautifully illustrated and remains a popular read all over the world. If you don't have the luxury of having some solitude to renew yourself, I would suggest reading Gift from the Sea. You'll find it to be a lovely respite from the cares of the day. To order it, just click the link below.
http://www.amazon.com/Gift-Sea-Anne-Morrow-Lindbergh/dp/0679406832
