He was a loner, infrequently leaving his home. Social interactions, even with his own family, were rare.
They knew he was a voracious reader and suspected that he was a bit of a hoarder. But it wasn’t until after his passing that they could understand how extreme his isolation was.
He had immersed himself in his books and had taken copious notes in each one, supporting the theory that he actually read them all.
But now he was gone and the time had come for his surviving relatives to clean out the contents and sell the old house.
(99 words)
Written for Bikurgurl’s 100 Word Wednesday prompt. Photo credit: Darwin Vehger. Also for these prompts: Your Daily Word Prompt (extreme), Ragtag Daily Prompt (immerse), Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (copious), and Daily Addictions (theory).
This, That, and the Other 
Just a note. If there is more than one person mourning a passed relative, don’t be in too big of a hurry. My mom acted like she was all that mattered, quickly throwing away lots of things related to my dad. I do mean quickly (almost like she’d been waiting for her chance — but the house was not a mess). No time for me to mourn and consider what I want. She was going to dismiss all of his artwork (that he himself crafted — not that he bought). She did get one piece into a trash bin before I could get to it. There was another piece she was going to get rid of until I said I wanted it; then she said we should cut it up (because she’s really artistically dense and it’s a mixed-media sculpture). In another realm, he had a box of smooth stones that he thought were geodes (from a vacation). I could’ve used them in landscaping, but out they went. She also tossed a poem he wrote for me with artwork connected to it.
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Sounds like she felt a lot of animosity toward her recently departed (at the time) husband.
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Well, weird thing… she seems very positive about him in terms of things she says. Something else she’s done is someone who was a business partner (of his) she was negative about when he was alive she’s made a friend of her own [of the business partner] now.
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The item she wanted to cut up was a life mask in two strong colors plus lush gold and pieces of hemp rope attached like hair. Her desire to cut off the hair reminds me of a book I read a long time ago — Iron John, by Robert Bly.
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Good one!👍🏻☺️
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Thank you Cheryl.
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My will has requirements for what to do with my books, and if they’re tossed, I’ll find a way through the veil to inflict [whatever I can] on the perpetrator!
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😂
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Perfect story.
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I’ve thought about the fact I have some books with notes in them (both solid books and e-books) and certain books that I think are really important. I’ve also thought about what it means if the only way one has books is electronically (they go bye-bye or by the wayside as far as I can tell). I intend to keep (to pass along) a real library (whatever they ultimately do with it). Something I’ve thought about additionally is choosing maybe three most-important books to give directly (in hardcopy) to each of my sons even now. Actually, I think I will start with one… or even maybe stick with one. It will be bible-related, but not “the Bible.” They can easily obtain any number of bibles if they feel like it. But without some general direction they would be at the mercy of all the voices in the world as to how the various copies can or should be understood. It’s so easy to assume things about a person who has been brought up to believe the Bible and has endeavored in studies as an adult. I wouldn’t want some cult leader — descriptive of many congregations these days — to be empowered to play off of the fact the mother they (or each) respected or saw something admirable in was a person of faith. I would want them, rather, empowered to think for themselves… even while with others who think and have faith (not “with” like they need to join a church). The options aren’t the group think of following the crowd (or a crowd) versus total rejection. If, in the future, they were to face a search of the soul and decide to spend appreciable time in study and/or contemplation, I’d like to have offered a basic stream of thought that isn’t, for instance, that you prove God loves you by being richer than your neighbor, nor by being among the most punished or submissive (which I see combined as the most prominent teachings in this world, the most prominent of all being the former of the two or three). Currently, I’m thinking the book may be Galatians Re-imagined, by Kahl, with the website of a colleague (one who recommended her book), Mark Nanos, and perhaps another scholar (who didn’t), written inside the cover.
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