Soren, Juniper's dear friend who has been away for the last few years, is learning his letters. at the same time, one of the parent list serves I am on has been discussing the pros and cons of preschool-aged children learning to read and write.
somehow this all gets wrapped together in my head--Soren and Juniper and their missing of each other with young children and their interest, or lack thereof, in early reading or writing, and it reminds me of what might be my favorite children's book.
the story is about discovery and loss, and how to deal with the latter. one summer Little Bear meets Emily and they become fast friends. together they have adventures and navigate the larger social world. but, as it always does, summer eventually ends, and then comes the day when Emily must leave to go back home. trying but failing to give Little Bear her beloved doll Lucy, Emily instead gives him a pen. though he can't yet write with it, his mother, who, being an adult, understands time and sees the future, tells him that soon he will learn to and soon he will write to Emily. and soon he does--the book concludes with his very sweet letter.
the loss--his love for Emily amidst their separation--is healed through the gain of literacy and through the very fact of writing. the meaning of the learning is this healing. and because this is of course what all writing is--mediation from human to human in the face of some form of separation--the learning is all the sweeter. in fact we will love so many Emilys, and miss them for summers or school years or all our lives.
for some of those Emilys, we will learn to write.
And here I thought that story was about us, Emily. Beautiful words about writing; it does bridge the separation. You writing here also encourages me to write more elsewhere and not only on little gnome. On could think of writing my dissertation as writing my way back to you (oh yes, and helping Soren get back to Juniper too).
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