And Gossip with Miss Maudie…
The answer to this question was as immediate as my undying love for this novel. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is the novel that I never want to end. I would not change the ending of this story, but if I had my druthers, it would never come to an end.
We would know Boo’s whole back story, learn the ins and outs of Calpurnia, and suffer through Atticus’ dating life until he found the woman worthy of his majesty.
Being of true Southern stock and a mother who was a teacher, this novel was my 2nd bible, but I did not realize how special it was until I was older and lived away from my roots in this God-forsaken desert of culture and sweetness.
I want to climb into the pages, and I dream of living in Maycomb. I would become a freedom fighter for Tom Robinson after I opened a can of whoop-ass on Mayella Ewell and showed her the humanness of love and acceptance.
I would have a cooking club with Calpurnia and gossip about the foot washers with Miss Atkinson. I would be a part of Scout, Jem, and Dills raising and attend all of their school plays. Maybe even deliver bag lunches to the school for the Cunninghams, ensuring they had a whopping helping of molasses to dip their fare in.
Gosh. I love that novel. It is like a lullaby of Southern warmth and humor, while not forgetting about the very wrong side of humanity that some rebels chose.
Alas, I cannot forget that it is Harper Lee and Truman Capote whom I most long to hang out with. If it weren’t for her luminary intellect, experience, and wisdom, this novel would not be memorable. The color, the vivaciousness, the giant wit!
Fireflies twinkling at sundown as Boo and I enjoy a glass of sweet tea on the front porch swing. Enjoying the vibrations of a small town Southern evening.
Oh my stars, it could not get any better for me.
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