An unveiling of artifacts

The Tale of the Librarian's Fifth Wife is collection of moments, an assemblage of events, a bread basket of words, a swap meet of scraps left behind from a beautiful romance that will help clue you in to the real deal, to the life of two star crossed lovers that has already been lived and left behind. For the moment, anyway.


Our lives lie scattered over several states and a half a case worth of decades. It's not so much a want as a need to do this, to gather together the splinters and the shards of our times and share them here with you. Those bits and pieces of flotsam and jetsam found below in this winsome log are the bits and pieces of our times, a smattering of the trinkets of the love that Jane and I gathered up over the course of five long hard years. How they come to you now is in a story of sorts, a type of autobiographical fiction, with images cadged from places other than our satchel. Give it time, photos, sepia, wrinkled, pocket worn, are yet to come.


So, what else is there to do but get out that cobbled together blanket of dreams from the back of the car, spread it out under the branches of our favorite green and noble Oregon Maple tree that we both loved and share these words and tales of those long ago times with you. It was a wonderful time. Sit a spell, grab your spectacles and come ride along with us for awhile.

Love, Jane, the Professora and Roger, the Wild Half Mexican Boy


Saturday, November 8, 2008

"Auntie Emm", email moniker

I watched The Wizard of Oz the other day and thought of you, Auntie Emm.

Our words. They wouldn't have taken flight they way they did without a place to roost in the first place. In the end it was all about a name. And an email box. And a place to call your own. Who would have ever thought that an email box could be so personal? And why was it that you couldn't have one of your own before?

We needed a place to write to each other, that much was apparent. No doubt, I had a box at work and so did you. It was easy to get in touch with each other and leave messages and such, but that was work and work email was much too open. It only mades sense to find a new place to write, as our messages began spilling over into real life. They went from work assignments to chats about road trips and family visits and such. As summer went on we found ourselves sharing thoughts about blazing hot Sundays and swap meets and raspberry jam, so by the end of July it was time and up to me to make things happen.

So as these things go I took it upon myself to generate a mailbox for you. I remember asking you one day early on in our friendship about your name, if you had any nicknames, and you mentioned that your nieces liked to call you "Auntie Emm". How nice is that? So I appropriated that nickname and that became your email moniker. I attached that to a new address which took into account your hometown, where we met and your birth year, lovelandtokrl63, and away we went. It was rollicking ride in that mailbox, and there we met for a solid year.

But the name "Auntie Emm" stuck, and has stayed with me, long after that email box and that address were closed.

I have to tell you, M, that the big side affect of that episode is that I have an awfully hard time watching The Wizard of Oz anymore. Mind you, it wasn't our film but it's just too full of sweetness and wonder and magic and to hear your name spoken in such a loving manner, well, my dear, it just makes me weep.

Te quiero mucho, Auntie Emm. See you over the rainbow.

Your WHMB
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