Now, you know way too much about me.
I like to close with one piece that
is dedicated to books because this is the Tucson book
festival.
It may not sound like it's about books,
but you'll see in the end.
This is called "The Way to Leave Your Illness."
If you have an illness that won't go away, take a journey.
When you get there, leave it.
Place it on a rock.
Throw it into moving water, bury it.
Throw it into the wind.
Let it go.
Leave it there for others.
She had been sick for many days.
In her frustration, she remembered
what her grandmother used to say, "Take it far away
and leave it there."
She walked to the other end of campus, towards the library.
In her mind, she left a discomfort, ache, pain there.
She walked back.
Comforted knowing, she didn't bring it back with her.
Her illness is now hidden in the stacks.
Perhaps, it is temporarily in periodicals, or archived,
in special collections, or perhaps in fiction.
No longer real.
Thank you very much.