Anne of Green Gables

"Well, anyway, when I am grown up," said Anne decidedly,

"I'm always going to talk to little girls as if they were too, and I'll

never laugh when they use big words.  I know from

sorrowful experience how that hurts one's feelings."

I remember the start of 5th grade so clearly: in a new school building, with lockers and changing classes, riding the bus for the first time, I felt so grown up.  And during the first week of school, as we were orienting to the building, I was led into the library.  What a glorious place!  So much bigger than the elementary library, with lots of tables.  It was in this room that many interests were launched.  Greek mythology, great inventors like Wilbur and Orrville Wright, and, most importantly, the books of L.M. Montgomery.  It was in the library at my intermediate school that I discovered my literary "kindred spirit", Anne Shirley.

I bonded to Anne immediately: she is described as being gangly, talkative, and overly imaginative.  Check, check, and oh yeah, check.  When I discovered Anne of Green Gables, I suddenly knew that I wasn't alone.  In fact, there might be little girls throughout time and space who were awkward nerds loving their made up worlds yet also kind of wishing they could fit in.  Reading about Anne running around naming all the trees near her house and playing in the woods with her friend, the echo made me feel less weird as I explored the underground sewers of my neighborhood and collected rocks.  Knowing that Anne devoured books and memorized poetry made me feel better about the stacks of books I brought home from the library.  And reading about Anne's fits of anger let me know that I wasn't the only one with that problem.  There was only one thing keeping me from being Anne in real life...the color of my hair.  Although Anne bemoans her red hair throughout her life, I secretly began to wish that my blonde hair would suddenly turn bright red.  Then I would wear it in two braids and let it grow long, and later wear it in giant buns as Anne did when she left Avonlea for college.

Not only did Anne provide a much needed sign that I wasn't born wrong, she offered a promise that gave me hope.  I was never going to be the most popular girl in school, but Anne showed me that all I really needed was one true friend, and that would be enough.  She was right.  Shortly after discovering Anne, I met my own "Diana Barry", a friend who proved loyal and kind no matter what.  Just like Diana provided a normalizing presence to Anne, so Melissa gave me an anchor in the real world.  Anne shows us that everyone, no matter their quirky habits or plain, homemade dresses, is capable of finding a friend.  There was another promise that came later in the Anne series, a promise that once a smart young woman has accomplished all she hopes to and starts looking around for a boyfriend or husband, one will appear.  No, teenage boys do not find smart girls with biting senses of humor attractive.  But we have too much on our minds to worry about it at the time, so it's okay.  But later, well, later we want someone to appreciate our wit and fall in love with us, flaws and all.  And my young heart took the resolution of Anne's adult love story and clung to the idea that the very boys who suffered my wrath in school would someday become handsome suitors wanting more than anything to marry me.  And again, I only needed one.

So, for this especially cold and snowy month of February, my recommendation is to wrap up in a warm blanket and re-read Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery.  And if this weather doesn't let up, I just might read through the whole series to Rilla of Ingleside.

*Did you know that Prince Edward Island has begun capitalizing on it's literary fame and offering Anne of Green Gables vacation packages?  Can you say Bucket List?