I was a constant reader as a child. I had many favorites, Heidi, The Swiss Family Robinson, The Laura Ingalls Little House books. One of my favorite authors was Frances Hodgson Burnett. I loved The Secret Garden and also A Little Princess. As an adult I sometimes revisit these books. I take after my maternal Grandmother in that characteristic, she loved children’s classics too. Recently, I had an inclination to reread A Little Princess. It was just as wonderful a story as it was when I first read it near forty-five years ago. I was struck by the wisdom I found in the book. I especially liked this paragraph in Chapter VI.

“If Nature has made you a giver, your hands are born open, and so is your heart; and though there may be times when your hands are empty, your heart is always full, and you can give things out of that-warm things, kind things, sweet things-help and comfort and laughter-and sometimes gay, kind laughter is the best help of all.”