Stories from the days of yore.

My brother (let's call him Gypsy Prince) came to town recently and brought with him one of our mom's college textbooks on Modern Literature. It was probably the 1950's equivalent of the comp 101 paperback that was called Contemporary Literature when I was in college, only instead of Joyce Carol Oates , it has T.S. Eliot and he's listed as being a living writer. My mom is pretty old, I know! She is so old that she remembers Civil War veterans marching in Veteran Day parades when she was a small child. She did say that the soldiers were pretty old. Still, I'm not that old, she had me when she was old. Okay, I'm seriously digressing and using the word old so much, it doesn't look like a word anymore.

One great thing about this book is not only is it full of what we now call Classic Literature, it's also huge, thick, and the cover is that shade of forest green that only books printed before 1960, come in. One other great thing about this book is that this is one book that inspired my mothers love of literature, a love that she passed down to me and Gypsy Prince, that has shaped us in profound ways. It has her notes and doodles in the margins. Among the great stories in the book, there is one by William Saroyan titled,"The Pomegranate Trees" that I had never read before last night. They had a short bio that included this quote by the author (also listed as still alive).

"You must believe that as much as death is inevitable life is inevitable. That is, the earth is inevitable, and people and other living things on it are inevitable, but that no man can remain on this earth for very long. You do not have to be melodramatically tragic about it. It is really one of the basically humorous things, and has all sorts of possibilities for laughter... Try as much as possible to be wholly alive, with all your might, and when you laugh, laugh like hell, and when you get angry, get good and angry. Try to be alive. You will be dead soon enough."

Someone who was close to me is now buried near William Saroyan. When I saw Saroyan's grave (which was marked by a hugantic obelisk, it lifted my spirits on what was otherwise a very sad day. I just love that quote because laughter is such a powerful reflection of the force of life that the two juxtapose quite nicely. It's just such a thoughtful thing to say and stated in such an inspiring and heartfelt way.