“Whatever ought to be, can be.” ~ James Rouse
At a house I pass every morning sits this Little Library. When I first saw it, however, it was a simple suitcase-looking box with a few stickers sitting near the sidewalk. It was on a chair. The nearby red-light had traffic stopped and I was in front of the house. I remember looking at the box and thinking, “Somebody will walk off with that.” A couple of days later I learned that’s exactly what happened. The story of the missing box drew the attention of a local news crew. The young owner’s husband had recently died of cancer. She wanted to pay tribute to him, so she filled the box with books he’d read to their son in hopes that others would stop and share, as you do with Little Libraries. The story was moving. Fast forward a few weeks and another news story appeared. This clip announced that the box, and its contents, had been recovered. It was in the care of an older couple who thought the box had been discarded for trash. Someone who’d seen the first news story was visiting with them and recognized the box in their house. The couple returned it to the grateful young widow. A few weeks after that “Phil’s Library” appeared, secure to the ground and open to anyone needing a book. Though I am sincerely sorry the woman’s husband died, the story of her memorial, and how it came back to her, completely warms my heart. There are good people in this world.
Shirley Terry
Very touching indeed and in a wonderful way; although like you, sorry for the loss of her loved one.