Thoughtful Third Thursday: April 2015

Today’s T3 theme is “April Showers: A Book That Made You Cry”. I am a great, big sap who cries easily, so I had lots of choices.

One of the first books that made me cry was Lois Lowry’s A Summer To Die. It’s the story of how smart, artistic Meg deals with the illness and death of her beautiful, popular sister, Molly (not a spoiler – it’s in the title!).

I re-read this book last year, and it was just as tear-jerking as I remembered. I stayed awake super late to finish it and ended up with a sopping wet, snotty pillow before I was through.

I made two Easter eggs, one for Will and one for Molly. Not just plain old hard-boiled eggs that you dye with those vinegar-smelling colors that never come out looking the way you hoped they would. Molly and I used to do that when we were little–dozens of them, and then we wouldn’t eat them, and they turned rotten.

No, these were special, and there were only two of them. I blew the insides out of two white eggs, so that only the shells were left, very fragile and light. Then I spent hours in my room, painting them.

Molly’s was yellow, partly I guess because it reminded me of her blond hair, and partly because my parents told me that her hospital room was depressingly gray-colored, and I thought that yellow would cheer it up a bit. Then, over the pale yellow egg, I used my tiniest brush and painted narrow, curving lines in gold, and between the lines, miniature blue flowers with gold and white centers. It took a long time, because the eggshell was so delicate and the painting so small and intricate; but it was worth it: when it was finished, the egg was truly beautiful. I varnished it to make it shiny and permanent, and when it was dry, I packed it in cotton in a box to protect it, and Mom took it with her when she drove to Portland to visit Molly. It worked, too; I mean it did make the room more cheerful, Mom said.
–Lois Lowry, A Summer To Die

I combined my cream and blue floral maxi with gold jewelry to pay homage to Molly’s Easter egg. I wish I could say this was my Easter outfit, but it was too cold this Easter morning. I did get an appreciative “Yowza!” from my daughter. 😆

Your turn! Do you cry easily or are you made of sterner stuff? Do tell!