"It's still true," James said.

(Cynthia Voight, Homecoming)

In Homecoming, the first book of the Tillerman cycle, Dicey and her three siblings, James, Maybeth, and Sammy, have been left by their mom at a mall in their car, with their belongings in paper bags, with the premise that they are going to go visit Aunt Cilla, who lives in Bridgeport. (Is that CT?) Momma said that Aunt Cilla was rich, and she'd take care of them. After waiting overnight and at least one day (I've given myself 20 minutes to write, so you'll have to read the book to get the actual specifics, okay?) in the parking lot, having eaten the sandwiches they brought along, having ventured into the mall, they decide that Momma is not coming back, at least not to the car, and perhaps they'd better go on to Bridgeport without her.

Every morning, James wakes up and says "It's still true." (Meaning, it's still true that Momma is gone, lost, not with us.) My father gave me this book for Christmas when I was in sixth grade. He'd read about it in the New York Times and was very excited about it. We lived in Honduras at the time, and there was no such thing as online anything, just postal mail, so he must have found a bookstore that shipped to APO addresses such as ours. (APO for those of you unschooled in the mail abreviations stands for...and I have no clue. But it signifies a...oh yes! Army Post Office. It signifies an Army Post Office, which is generally overseas but it has an American address. So when we lived in Honduras, it was APO Miami. When we lived in Poland, it was APO AE New York. Don't ask me what the AE stands for, 'cause I just don't know!) I have a hardcover copy with a tattered dust jacket. Why I did not get it signed by the author when I met her in 1993, I have no clue. I had her sign a copy of On Fortune's Wheel that belonged to a friend's sister and a secondhand copy (that was already showing wear in 1993) of Dicey's Song.

I have Homecoming and Dicey's Song in both hardcover and paperback. I may have a third copy of Dicey's Song somewhere. For years, I'd read it, put it down for a week (or less) and pick it up again. It was my baby blanket book, my comfort.

And it's 9:00, so I've started the water...it takes awhile for it to warm up to the third floor. Happy Humpday.