charlotte and wilbur

Evee and I finished Charlotte's Web tonight. She couldn't get to sleep right away and I took the opportunity for us to finish the last two chapters without Iris clamoring around (which, as much as we love, it is a distraction to finishing a beloved book).

Oh my.

I haven't read this book for awhile (a very long while). Out of the chapter books we've read in the last couple of months, this has been my favorite.

I got teary-eyed, could have fully cried, tonight as I read about Charlotte dying alone. This character who played the most important roll and, yet, no one knew about.

Such tender thoughts on friendship, sacrifice, love, growing up, death and life.

I leave this simple post with these last lines that make me smile, think about a couple people in my own life and sum the book up so perfectly...

"Wilbur never forgot Charlotte. Although he loved her children and grandchildren dearly, none of the new spiders ever quite took her place in his heart. She was in a class by herself. It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. Charlotte was both."