I’ve been away from home the last couple of weeks, which has been good and bad. I’m very much a home-body, and I miss my family. However, I’ve also had the chance to reconnect with extended family and friends from years gone by, as well as meet some new people along the way.

At the same time, I’ve been reading some new books and have been reminded of some old favorites. Reading a new book is like making a new friend, or a whole new circle of friends. The characters enter our minds and our hearts. We love them, we care what happens to them, we laugh and cry along with them. And, if the characters are richly drawn, we don’t forget them once we set the book down.

But rereading an old favorite is like rekindling friendships from long ago. We smile with knowledge, knowing everything about them. We laugh and we mourn anew. And we wonder what took us so long to become reacquainted.

Don’t you just love old friends?