NoJoMo 6 -- Andersen's Fairy Tales in NoJoMo 2018

Andersen ‘s fairytales are so sad. Rarely is there a “happily ever after”. The Little match girl freezes to death, the little mermaid (in spite of Disney), turns to seafoam. The dark, deep tragedy of his tales appealed to me. (And still does, maybe more so now)

My mom introduced me to his stories. She had a small, blue book that had been given to her when she was a girl. I remember it had pen and ink illustrations. I loved that small book, almost as much as I loved the stories it contained, and I loved that it had once been Mom’s.

I took the book with me once when we went on a picnic to Salisbury Park. And I lost it. I was devastated, and felt guilty for losing it. I still feel bad about it, 50 years later.

I knew I was forgiven, but it still hurt. For my birthday that year, Mom and Dad gave me my own copy of Andersen’s fairy tales. It couldn’t completely replace the one I’d so carelessly lost, but I’ve kept it all these years.