Life Goals

One of my lesser life goals is to become a regular at a diner.  Joan Bauer's Hope Was Here made me want to move to Wisconsin and spend the rest of my days eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the Welcome Stairways diner.

Hope Was Here is a remarkable book.  When I was snowed in over the weekend I read it twice and loved it both times. The main character, Hope, is a no nonsense, see life how it really is, incredibly talented waitress.  She lives with her Aunt who is a phenomenal cook and together they travel all around the United States working in diners.  Unfortunately all the diners seem to go under until they make it to Welcome Stairways in Wisconsin.

Hope has a few prized possessions that she takes with her from  move to move. I think her list of possessions really shows what an amazing girl she is-she has depth.

 "When you move a lot, you have a few things you bring with you that have stood the test fo time: I've got my Webster's dictionary, because words are important.  I've got my Roget's thesaurus, because sometimes finding the right word requires assistance.  I've got my Replogle globe, because you've got to keep a world view, you can't just live like you're the only person on the planet who matters.  I've got my eleven scrapbooks of most of the places I've lived, complete with photographs and all of my significant comments about people, places, and food.  Addie says it's easy to go to a new place and feel like you don't have a history, so you have to lug your history around with you or it's too easy to forget."   

Hope Was Here really does have everything.  It sounds cliche, but I laughed, I cried, I celebrated and I mourned.  It also has a series of tips on how to be an amazing waitress. At only 186 pages this book is easily read but it is well worth the read (or two or three reads!).  

Meeting your life goals...that's kids stuff.