¨Without further ado I left the place, finding my route by the marks I had made on the way in. As I walked in the dark through the tunnels and tunnels of books, I could not help being overcome by a sense of sadness. I couldn´t help thinking that if I, by pure chance, had found a whole universe in a single unknown book, buried in that endless necropolis, tens of thousands more would remain unexplored, forgotten forever. I felt myself surrounded by millions of abandoned pages, by worlds and souls without an owner sinking into an ocean of darkness, while the world that throbbed outside the library seemed to be losing its memory, day after day, unknowingly, feeling all the wiser the more it forgot.¨
(excerpt from The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Puiz Zafon)
I´m reading this book right now. It takes place in Barcelona so I guss that is one reason to read it. Also many of my friends here are reading it, so that might be another reason. Maybe the third and most compelling reason and the one that made me buy it, was that I was out of books to read in English (am tackling a couple in Spanish...can you say headache?!..haha) and it was cheap at Happy Books near the Plaza Catalunya. I appreciate what this quote is perhaps trying to say...as humans one of the most chronic diseases that we all get is a loss of memory. Now I´m not just talking about what happens as you age when you forget what you ate for breakfast or how to get to the grocery store...although that happens. What I´m getting at is that we lose the memory of who we are...of what makes us alive. For me, it is my relationship with Christ that makes my life make sense and purposeful. So why do I have to remind myself each morning when I wake up? Maybe because I am human and am losing my memory. :)
My parents are here this week from Nashville, Tennessee. It´s been four months since I´ve seen them and since I´ve been ¨home¨. Here are some things that being around them that I remember that I miss...
*the word ¨yáll¨
*family
*my pets
*country music
*my car...Ms. Su-BA-ru
*dad´s garden
*HHBC
*familiarity
*iced tea
*the GAP
It is good to have them here and remember all that I love and miss about Nashville. Don´t get me wrong though...I´m thankful to be here in BCN. I think my heart is just in two places!
