I’ve been waiting for this day for a year…some old friends are coming back into my life after too long an absence.
These are fictional friends. Today is the day that Alexander McCall Smith’s latest installment in the “Number One Ladies Detective Agency” series hits the stands (“The Minor Adjustments Beauty Salon”). But Mma Ramatswe, Mr. J.L.B. Matakoni and Grace Makutsi truly have become dear friends and I can’t wait to welcome them back. Not only are they funny and endearing, but they gently remind me of the important things in life, and of the interconnected-ness of all people. These are books and characters that feed my soul.
Oh, happy day!
It’s a little weird how I discovered that today was the day. A couple of years ago, in a moment of boredom, I actually opened the “Costco Connection” advertising magazine that comes in the mail monthly. To my surprise, I stumbled across a few pages that highlighted upcoming book releases – and a couple of my favorites were right there. The Husband finds it infinitely amusing that now I eagerly dive into that shamelessly commercial publication when it arrives in our mailbox each month. When it came last Thursday and I discovered that Nov. 5 was the date for the new release, the news made my day.
And so I’m reserving some time this afternoon, even though it’s a miserable, rainy day, to head to our Costco and pick up my old friends to bring home. Following my usual pattern I’ll keep the book on my bedside table for a few days in delicious anticipation before diving in. Every time I pick it up I’ll feel just a bit of sorrow that soon I’ll finish reading and the new adventure will just be another part of the cannon. But the joy of creating new memories with my old, albeit fictional friends, will last. Thank you, Alexander McCall Smith, for creating those friends and sending them back to me again.
Mom Goes On 