Russell ContrerasVerified account

1. Do you guys remember those Scholastic book fairs in elementary school? I was obsessed with them. With books.

2. I browsed and smelled and lingered until it was time to go. But books there were expensive, and we didn’t have the means. One day, perhaps in 5th grade, my dad picked me up from school, which was unusual — my mom always picked me up.

3. I gave my dad a tour of the fair and told him in my best sad-eyes how much I had longed to buy a book there. He was easily persuaded. I picked out “Walk Two Moons” by Sharon Creech.

4. He wouldn’t let me have it until he inscribed it — he said all books given as gifts must have a dedication — and later that day I got my brand new spanking paperback with a note in all-caps, which is how my dad always writes.

5. I wish I remember what it said. What I remember is gluing my eyes to “Walk Two Moons.” I read it on bathroom floor (probably to get away from my sister, whom I shared a room with). I remember feeling confused about some parts and captivated by all of them.

6. I read that book many times before it got lost somewhere, my dad’s inscription with it. And then I bought another copy, which I found this week in a bin in my daughter’s playroom.

7. I read “Walk Two Moons” again yesterday. It holds up. It made me cry. It made me feel like a kid again, sitting on a bathroom floor, living inside the life of Salamanca Tree Hiddle. It’s a children’s book, yes, and sad in many ways too.

8. But it’s also a story of coming to terms with the life we’ve been dealt, which is something I’m finding hard to do in. The indefinite-ness of when I’m going to see my parents stomps on my nerves more than even the thought of getting sick or dying.