We're grateful to Books on Wheels customer, Betty, and her daughter, Wendy Sue, for taking the time to submit this Love Letter.
Betty was a longtime Books on Wheels customer. Sadly, she passed away earlier this year. Her daughter, Wendy Sue, gave us permission to publish a kind note Betty sent us a few years ago. Wendy offers an introduction.
Dear Wonderful Library People,
My mom, Betty, treasured your library Books on Wheels, and books on bicycles! Her letters to me often included wonder and excitement about the great book suggestions you made and the books you'd selected just for her. Your librarians took the time to learn which books and authors she liked, and which would pique her interest. You brought more than books into her life. You brought bright moments and companionship into what could sometimes by lonely days, and we both thank you.
- Wendy Sue, Betty's daughter
The library comes to me, bringing books—the everlasting gift
Sitting in my chair looking out the window watching the rain pour down. Unusual in Tucson—it’s normally desert and dry. So dense the rain, gray, foggy, no way to see across the street.
Suddenly out of nowhere came a small dark shadow, growing bigger and bigger until it stopped on the front porch. A bicycle and a rider covered with rain gear, soaking wet and with a smile! He unpacked a canvas bag and handed out books. What a gift from out of a raining downpour. I invited him in to dry off, have a cup of hot tea or coffee or chocolate. “No, thanks—I like riding in the rain.” And off he disappeared in the dense downpour.
Sitting down with the pile of books, I browsed—all from 2012, 2013, or 2014—all new indeed, and all authors I knew or would like selected just for me. That bicycle and the bicycle rider with a smile in the downpour, and Books on Wheels from Himmel Park Library, made the difference for me that rainy day.
The enduring love of a book, the enduring peace of a book, the enduring adventure of a book, the enduring friend of a book in hand. Nothing could be better.
- Betty
