Sometimes little is more. Sounds like an oxymoron and maybe it is.
The few words written on a man's personal notepad and sent to a group of wiggly primary children hundreds of miles away whom he would never meet, arrived on a windy March day.When the children saw that envelope from LaJolla, California, they knew it was the home of Dr. Seuss.
It was actually a thank you note for all of the birthday cards he had received from them on his eighty-fifth birthday from a small city school in Kentucky. These children were blessed to hear by age six some of the wonderful books that made up the six million copies of books he sold and many of us were introduced to. Imagine a world without books written by Dr. Seuss aka Theodore Seuss Geisel. He had a difficult time breaking into print until Vanguard Press took a chance on him and published And To Think I Saw It On Mulberry Street in 1937- after twenty seven attempts.
I actually get sentimental about some of the simple things he wrote that are easy to relate to:
"A person's a person no matter how small."
"The more that you read, the more things you will know."
"The more you learn, the more places you'll go."
I liked him so well that I wrote curriculum using his books that gave children opportunities to laugh, make goals and dream of their future. My children called him a friend.
This just fueled their fire for reading as they received a copy of the note to keep and an explanation for their parents.
A few years later, Dr. Seuss died and they sent notes to console Mrs. Geisel. She also acknowledged their concern. So this note was also sent and thus they grew up with an author who was meaningful to them.
I marvel that one of the greatest children writers of all times took a moment to encourage and gift some little children he would never see. I almost sense him whisper:
"Don't cry when it's over. Smile because it happened."
Few words so simply written that most of us can smile. What a writer.What a gift of legacy.
Lord, help me to weigh my words and share something of value not caring where they lodge.
