Dewey’s story starts in the worst possible way. Only a few weeks old, on the coldest night of the year, he was stuffed into the returned book slot at the Spencer Public Library. He was found the next morning by library director, Vicki Myron, a single mother who had survived the loss of her family farm, a breast cancer scare, and an alcoholic husband. Dewey won her heart, and the hearts of the staff, by pulling himself up and hobbling on frostbitten feet to nudge each of them in a gesture of thanks and love. For the next nineteen years, he never stopped charming the people of Spencer with his enthusiasm, warmth, humility, (for a cat) and, above all, his sixth sense about who needed him most.
   As his fame grew from town to town, then state to state, and finally, amazingly, worldwide, Dewey became more than just a friend; he became a source of pride for an extraordinary Heartland farming town pulling its way slowly back from the greatest crisis in its long history.

September is coming to a close and it hasn’t been kind, both in reading and personal.  But like real life, one has to take the good and the bad, learn from both and move on.  I debated even if I would do a monthly wrap up since I only read 1 book and couldn’t finish 2.   As I sit here reflecting, I  realized how much we had to personally deal with and why I had so much difficulty and could not focus on reading.  All I can hope is that October is more productive, it couldn’t get much worse.



   Dewey’s story starts in the worst possible way. Only a few weeks old, on the coldest night of the year, he was stuffed into the returned book slot at the Spencer Public Library. He was found the next morning by library director, Vicki Myron, a single mother who had survived the loss of her family farm, a breast cancer scare, and an alcoholic husband. Dewey won her heart, and the hearts of the staff, by pulling himself up and hobbling on frostbitten feet to nudge each of them in a gesture of thanks and love. For the next nineteen years, he never stopped charming the people of Spencer with his enthusiasm, warmth, humility, (for a cat) and, above all, his sixth sense about who needed him most.
   As his fame grew from town to town, then state to state, and finally, amazingly, worldwide, Dewey became more than just a friend; he became a source of pride for an extraordinary Heartland farming town pulling its way slowly back from the greatest crisis in its long history.

September is coming to a close and it hasn’t been kind, both in reading and personal.  But like real life, one has to take the good and the bad, learn from both and move on.  I debated even if I would do a monthly wrap up since I only read 1 book and couldn’t finish 2.   As I sit here reflecting, I  realized how much we had to personally deal with and why I had so much difficulty and could not focus on reading.  All I can hope is that October is more productive, it couldn’t get much worse.