It has been a hard week, health wise, but I have felt compelled to stay at my desk and work on a project that has occupied my free time for many years now. I have always had a deep love and respect for my ancestors and I have spent hours and hours researching and discovering their stories. Five and Six generations and even further on some lines. I am now putting them all together in a book for my sons and grandchildren. It is a formidable task that will take time and my undivided attention to finish. But, oh dear, I’m so tired and with feeling the way that I do it will take courage and patience to see it through. And with that thought I seem to remember something Victor Hugo once said. Where is that? I have to look for it but then there it is…
“Have courage for the great sorrows of life and patience
for the small ones; and when you have laboriously accomplished your daily
task, go to sleep in peace. God is awake.” – Victor Hugo
With that comforting and uplifting thought I save my work,
close out my computer and head to bed. Before sleep overtakes me - my mind happily goes to an autumn day long ago
when I stepped through the doors of an old book store with the intent of
finding the perfect Anniversary gift for Dale.
It had to be perfect. The delightfully dusty store was filled with shelf
after shelf, row after row of cherished tomes written by brilliant minds - a veritable
candy shop for a book loving person like me.
As I meandered down the rows I made my way to the classics section and gently
ran my hand across the leather spines. Surely I can find…just the right…and there it
was! A 20 volume set in all of its
burgundy colored splendor. The complete works of Victor Hugo!
Dale’s reaction when opening the gift was just what I had
hoped it would be! Victor Hugo had been his favorite author for the better part
of his life. He first discovered Victor Hugo in High School and then his
appreciation deepened in Paris where as a young missionary he read many of Hugo’s epics in French. (Better
than the translations he declared).
Victor Hugo stole my heart and climbed to the top of my
favorite authors list when I read Les Miserable. The basis of his massive
collection of works always seems to be that of God, love, hope, perseverance and
doing good regardless of circumstances. We saw the stage play Les Miserable several
times and I bought and played the piano renditions of the songs each time I needed
comfort or strength or at Dale's request.. “Bring Him Home” was one of his favorites.
You can imagine our delight when on one of our trips to
Paris we were able to take a tour of the home of Victor Hugo. It was in
admiration of his genius that we walked through the rooms and by the desk where
he penned Les Mis.
With these memories I fall asleep in peace - making a mental note to
find the books in the morning.
This morning I pull open the glass sliding door of my big black book case and there they are. All of the
burgundy volumes, so aged that the spines have turned a bit pinkish at the
edges. I pull one out at random and notice a book mark, Dale’s book mark. Halfway through the “Toilers of the Sea”. I begin
to read the marked page and then close the book and hold it to my heart.
I’m feeling better this morning after a good night’s sleep.
Much stronger somehow to work again on this labor intensive gift to my children
and grandchildren. I sit back down to my computer and feeling blessed, I’m reminded of another
statement by Victor Hugo…
"The mind is
enriched by
what it receives, the heart by
what it gives."
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