There Were Fourteen of Us.

We represented three generations at our Thanksgiving dinner.  The oldest was in her early eighties; the youngest in her early twenties.  We all get along quite well.  Always have.   No disagreements were anticipated and none arose.  We’re lucky that way.

But, since I write this blog and since I’m always looking for “material,” I decided to take advantage of the broad age span.   At dinner, I asked the following non-invasive, non political, non-threatening, very simple questions.

Who is John Grisham?

Who is Steven King?

Who is James Patterson

Who is Colleen Hoover?

Just as I thought might be the case, the older generation knew the first three authors but most had no idea about the fourth.  On the flip side, the younger generation knew the fourth but were iffy about the other three.

Just in case you don’t know who she is, Colleen Hoover is a prolific teen and young adult fiction author. She typically has four or five books on the New York Times Bestseller list every week. I, for one, wasn’t planning to read anything she’s written.

But, during our little Q and A, one of those in the older generation took my breath away by saying that she not only knows who Colleen Hoover is, she’s read nearly all her books!  This from a discerning and highly intelligent friend!  She simply knocked my socks off.

Why, I asked.  Simple, she said.  My granddaughters adore Colleen Hoover and I want to relate to them, to share ideas with them and read the same books they do. I found that to be a compelling statement.

I downloaded several of Colleen’s books this morning and look forward to digging in. Thank you, my friend, for opening my mind to a fresh way of looking at something I had too quickly dismissed.