Library Adventures – June 5, 2024

When we arrived at the Friends of the Library workroom, there was another heavy load on the dock. I was already dealing with the heavy load of grad school work for a single course, so my motions were on autopilot as I sorted through the books and handed them over for Jaybles to box or shelve. Then one book tugged me out of my fog.

I adore cheesy books like these from decades past. All that gooey sentimentality practically makes the pages stick together, like the perfect Hallmark greeting card. Well, this is actually a love letter of sorts contained in a Hallmark gift book, so it’s greeting card adjacent.

So what’s it about? According to its Amazon page:

Imagine It’s 1976 and you’re dating a man named Rick. He has a mustache and owns at least one reindeer sweater. High off of reading The Easter Parade and The Great Santini, he’s all pumped up to write the next great American novel but, to make ends meet, he’s currently working for Hallmark. He’s been really cagey about his latest project, only revealing that this will be the first time Hermann Zapf’s Crown font is used in a publication. The fact is, things could be better between the two of you; he forgot your birthday… then your anniversary. Then there was that time he bit your head off on the car ride home for making fun of him during a game of Monopoly at a friend’s house. Now, imagine it’s Valentine’s Day and you’re not expecting much – but Rick surprises you. It turns out that book he was working on – it’s all about you! And your relationship! Your eyes well up with tears of joy. Then, as you skim through, they become tears of something else. You discover that the book is full of lines like “Please don’t get mad at me if I forget your birthday or some special day we share.” And “Please don’t expect me to always be good and kind and loving. There are times when I will be cold and thoughtless and hard to understand.” And there’s even a photo depicting couples board game night paired with this “Please don’t… make me look foolish in front of other people.”

Golly gee, this sounds like a charming little chucklefest of a book. Silly misunderstandings, humorous forgettings, and squee-inducing other-ings! I gotta skim through this…

To Jeanie Who Is
In Bell Manor For
Care from an Anurism
In her head Since 1989
Been In A Nursing Home since
Sweetest Day Oct. 20, 79

From
Charles

My Jeannie
Believe This

Charles

Some stories you don’t expect to knock you down and nearly leave you a teary mess in the middle of a library workroom. But there you go.