My Old Friend, Illusions, by Richard Bach

Yes, this is my copy of the book, Illusions by Richard Bach. It is well worn, dog eared, bent and almost crumbling with some of the pages loose from the binding. I usually write the date inside the front cover when I buy a special book and this one is dated "June 26, 1979". I look at that date and can remember well the day I bought it. I was unemployed, but had a part time job at the gift shop in the Harvest Hilton House Hotel in Boulder, Colorado. The job was not a fast, high pressure job. The customers were mostly guests in the hotel that were looking for souveniers. It was a fun job and I definitely needed the money at that time. I was a single mom, with a daughter about to enter her last year in High School.

Obviously, everything worked out for me, but that day I wasn't so sure --- until I started reading Illusions. I sat at the counter and looked over the revolving book rack. I needed something to fill the time and it was almost time to close and go outside to Anthony's Gardens and eat my lunch. After reading the introduction, the book was one I didn't want to put down. So I bought it --- and I read it, and I have re-read it a couple of times a year. Matter of fact I just finished it, again.

I currently have a long list of things to get done, but this book has a very strong way of saying "Read me". And I always answer that call. Why? Because, for me, it is a magical book. Each time I have read it I find a comment or a sentence I hadn't noticed before. It has never failed to inspire me in a different way and in a way I need to be inspired. Just as Richard Bach explains in the introduction when he says it was a book that virtually grabbed him by the throat and demanded, "Write me", it does the same thing to me by saying, "Read me".

Today it shouted, "Write about me", and as usual I didn't argue, thus this little advertisement for Illusions by Richard Bach. Is it a book that everyone will love? I doubt it. But don't be surprised if you are one of the fortunate souls that will be doing what I did that June day, sitting in Anthony's Gardens. Looking up at the beautiful sky and trying to vaporize clouds. Did I succeed? Hmmmm, I'm not saying, but I'll bet you can guess the answer to that one. patj