Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life

 Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

2005

Weight : 12 oz

Method of Disposal: Giving Away

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I did not know Amy, but I think she might have appreciated how I came to discover her.  The universe just fell into place.  I do wish I had found this book in 2005 because I know I would have loved it and would have loved engaging with Amy, hoping to be one of the first one hundred she had encouraged to write her in the book.  

As it were, it was just this year that I was in Oregon and looked in the window of a closed bookshop and saw My Wife Said You May Want to Marry Me by Jason Rosenthal, amongst some other books I thought looked interesting.  I made a mental note to look it up later and, when I did, I read about Amy's Op-Ed, which I vaguely remembered peripherally but had never read.  Later, the book came up as an audiobook I might be interested in and, needing something to listen to, I purchased and downloaded it.  While cleaning out dog kennels, I listened to a husband tell us why his wife was so fun, loving, and full of life.  My heart could not handle the thought of losing Harriet and so I felt immediately connected to this man in this way, as many people do, I know.  He talked about a woman that loved family, letters and words, what might appear to be coincidence.  Immediately following, I looked into her children's books and booked an ultrasound to see what the cysts on my ovaries were doing.  I was way overdue, and I thought this book was potentially a sign to take another look.  As of now, I was lucky.  Everything was fine.  All the cysts were there, but no one was yet causing a problem, and I was grateful to have had that extra push to look, to be so careful.  

Later, Sleater Kinney came to Atlanta with Wilco.  Their show had been postponed due to Covid and was finally happening, outdoors, with vaccination or negative Covid test required.  I was there for Sleater Kinney/  I had no idea who Wilco was, but I knew that Amy and her husband had loved them.  I had just read his book!  So, when they started to play, I thought of this stranger I never knew and tried to imagine what she would have been like.

A couple months later, I was having knee surgery, and my friend surprised me with a box of books.  Some that were her favorites, some she was currently reading, others that her late sister had loved.  I was so excited and so grateful.  She pointed out Enyclopedia of an Ordinary Life and said it was one of her favorites.  I started there and, as I read, I started to feel like I recognized the author.  I did, of course.  It was Amy again.  Her book breathed life into the the image of her I had been given.  Her love of word play and letters made even more sense.  Her optimism and approach to life soaked through each page.  At times I felt like I was just like her.  At other times, I thought my friend was just like her.  And, still at other times and far fewer, I could not relate at all.  I enjoyed getting to know her via this "encyclopedia!"  When she wrote it, she did not know when or how she would die.  She says so herself several times.  It was painful in those moments.  

Still, how wonderful to have put your impact on the world in so many ways. That even a total stranger could look around and see these beautiful parts of Amy sprinkled around.  Not falling all at once like an avalanche but slowly, peacefully, landing here and there, touching different people.  I am so sorry her family had to say goodbye to someone they clearly loved so much.  I am grateful that she and they shared her legacy.