I don’t know why I’ve not read anything by Eudora Welty. My favorite college professor told me to many (many, many) years ago and I just kept going on my merry way, reading on my own trajectory. Just ordered her collected stories because I’ve enjoyed reading your writing so much. I was only a teenager before and couldn’t take as much advice as I can now.

I also never wondered why Graham wrote Wind in the Willows. My mother read it to me, a chapter at a time, when I was little. Now that she is gone I regret (one of my few regrets about her) not talking more with her about books. She had a reading life that inspired mine and we did share thoughts about books, just not enough. I can see now how it could have brought us closer.

I agree with you, life has never been known to wait. I’ve live that so damned hard.