Tuesday, February 23, 2021

​The third Tuesday of the month at 10:30 a.m. This has been a “bright spot” for me during the Pandemic. I thank Lois Lynn for starting this group and being the coordinator of the Garden of Readin’ for a number of years, but especially for this year. She always sends us an email almost immediately after our meeting thanking all who attended, telling us how many attended (in-person numbers before the Pandemic at the 10:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. sessions), and information about the next book selection and who the facilitator will be for it. She also sends us a reminder the day before our meeting with all the information we need to connect to Zoom, sometimes telling us how much she enjoyed the monthly selection and looks forward to seeing us the next day.
 
Since last April, we have relied on Zoom for our meetings. It averages about 10 to 15 women who enjoyed reading the monthly choice, with the facilitator guiding us during our discussion. We have wonderful discussions during our one-hour Zoom meeting. Zoom was suggested to Lois by Janet Lybarger, and it was first provided by Carla Rossi. At that time, there needed to be two Zoom setups for the entire hour because Zoom only allotted a 40-minute time slot at one time! Laura Pauley started providing the Zoom sessions after Carla, and since June, we have been able to continue without stopping our meetings. Thank you, Carla and Laura.
 
We enlighten each other with our thoughts and bring in our own life experiences while discussing the various topics of the books we have read over the past 10 years.
 
Diane Kulp is another person to thank for keeping track of the books the group has read from the beginning—starting in 2010. As of this date, we have read 112 books. As Lois said in her last email, “that’s a lot of words”!
In closing, I would like to say we miss those who are unable to meet with us through Zoom but look forward to the day when we can all meet together in Grace’s Library again for a lively book discussion.
Enjoy reading,
 
“Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer.”
Romans 12:12
 
Sharon Rivell