Thursday, September 1, 2016

Patty Post for 9/1/16 is "The Value of a Book Club"




Are you members of a book club? I love my book club! Being part of a book club helps me to read books that I would not have otherwise chosen. We have good discussions that usually present different aspects of the book to me. It's amazing to me how 15 people can read the same book and remember different parts or arrive at different conclusions. 

We usually get together and enjoy snacks and drinks provided by the hostess. Some of the time, the member hosting will tie the food choices into the theme of the book. The imagination of some of these wonderful women is amazing to me. Over all, the food is delicious and we share in a few glasses of the beverage of our choice while catching up on the latest news with each other. 

Watching my book club interact a few nights ago, made me realize that as a woman I really need time spent around other women. Don't get me wrong, I love my husband and family and enjoy my guys at work, but being around other women will usually uplift me in a special way. There is some sort of acceptance and ease that comes from the common cause we share. We have been together 12 years so there is a special bond there, but beyond that we have shared alot with each other over the years. We have watched each other's children grow up and go off to careers or college. We have watched our daily lives change and adapt to the place in time we inhabit now. Just aging from your 30's to your 40's, or like some of us from your 40's into your 50's, bring big changes to a woman's life - 
to anyone's life. 

Women just need other women friends. I'm not some huge feminist but the opportunity to bond with other women can not be overrated. I wish everyone could have this experience in their life. Maybe I feel this way because I love to read and write more than most things I do, but I think it's deeper than that. Women just need other women to share thoughts with and bounce ideas off of along with our spouses, partners, families and loved ones. 
If I ever do move on from my current house into a new phase in a new location, I will miss this special group of women. 

I few years ago my sister-in-law gave me a documentary DVD on a group of women that have had a book club for in the Washington DC area by Hope Hartman showed how important a book club is to women. They shared much more than books they read.  They shared 70+ years of their lives together. I don't know that my book club will be together for 70 years but I do know that the friendships I have gained through my book club are 
irreplaceable. Spending time together doesn't let us change the world per se, but it does 
change our own worlds just a little bit. And that in itself is a miracle worth cherishing. 

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