Page 24 of Authentically, Izzy
Subject: Changes?
Izzy,
Have you been exercising? I think those hikes are benefiting you. Your eyes beamed in church this morning while you were singing. And were you wearing a new dress? Green, even? Izzy, what is going on with you? Steve hasn’t mentioned any more dates, and believe me, I’ve asked Patrick about it on a regular basis.
Thank you for the little package of chewable books. I had no idea they made chewable classics! You had to have purchased the entire inventory, Izzy!
By the way, Donovan from church was asking about you today. I think he recently broke up with his girlfriend and is now officially free again. Didn’t you date him once or twice? Maybe it’s time for a second chance? He likes movies. And church. And I’ve even seen him at the library a time or two.
Josephine
PS: Keats? I’ve heard of the name. Is he one of the children’s book authors you love? You keep recommending books for me to purchase for the babies, but I can’t remember them all.
From: Izzy Edgewood
To: Josephine Martin
Date: March12
Subject: Re: Changes?
Josie,
I looked for a chewable Bible but couldn't find one. It seemed appropriate to purchase since somewhere, if I recall, we are supposed to be chewing on the Word of God. I thought the babies could start early.
They had chewable pizzas for babies as well, but I figured that would be too cruel.
Izzy
PS: Donovan is not for me. If you recall, he has difficulty with the wordmonogamous.
PPS: Never mind about Keats. He’s a poet. I forgot that you are allergic to poets.
***
Heart-to-Heart
Date: March12
Brodie,
Thank you for clarifying so much about yourself while also inspiring many more questions. An unimpressive introduction? How can you even think it? A loving family, a beautiful view, and a plethora of books! You are rich with treasures, and to have allthree at once? Impressive isn’t a strong enough word. Fortunate? Blessed?
I am glad to learn that you are not my cousin Josie, though I only have your word and a rather unidentifiable photo to go on. Actually, you are much wittier and well-read than Josie, so that does help your argument. Plus, the simple fact you not only get myLord of the Ringsreferences but make your own, is another factor against you being Josie. She still confuses hobbits and dwarves and thinksThe Lord of the Ringsare Christmas movies because they feature elves and a man with a white beard and pointy hat.
Matchmaking has never been my forte either. As a child, I couldn't even get a pair of pet rabbits to like one another, so why would I ever attempt humans? And matching socks? It’s a lost cause.
I love the notion of finding comfort and immediate kinship in another reader. It’s so true. But not just any reader will do. Readers with a certain measure of appreciation and respect create a stronger kinship than your fair-weather readers. I can’t say I’ve ever known such an immediate friendship on such short acquaintance as this one, but it may be in part due to the fact we met online and all of the awkward “in-person-ness” that accompanies so many of my disastrous blind dates is conveniently absent. For example, how often would you say you use the suffix “itis” in conversations?
My great-grandmother met her future husband through correspondence (not that we are on that trajectory, of course), but she said writing allowed them to get to know “one another as souls first.” There’s something both daunting and beautiful about that sentiment.
So in the spirit of our kinship, I’ll share a little more about me, though my information truly will be unimpressive.
My name is Isabelle Louisa Edgewood, a name I’ve always feltI could never live up to. Izzy fits much better. Isabelle Edgewood sounds as though I should be the lady of the manor or an author of some regency novel. Izzy Edgewood fits the quiet librarian that I am. I live in the small town of Mt. Airy, North Carolina, at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains. In fact, if I stand in a certain spot on the sidewalk in front of my house, I can place one foot in Virginia and one foot in North Carolina, effectively being two places at once.
My uncle Herman and my aunt Louisa (after whom I’m named) took me in when my parents died, so their three children are like siblings to me. My aunt is the lead librarian at our local library, a place I’ve worked for eight years after fumbling through college and finally ending with a double major in library science and British literature. My uncle is a semi–well-known owner of a massive furniture store company known as Amwurst’s. Doesn’t that name just flow off the tongue?
I am not ashamed to admit that I’m almost as avid a movie watcher as I am a reader... but remember, I said “almost.” I’m thirty, love keeping my feet warm, and am horrible at small talk. I’m not unkind, I don’t think, but I just don’t say a lot unless I feel I have something to contribute, and even then I have to feel extremely compelled to speak my mind.
