The first job I had after college graduation was in an accounting office.   It has been a couple of decades since I have worked there and many of my coworker’s  faces and names are fuzzy.  But I will always remember one woman named Claire.   She was a confident outspoken woman and I found her quite interesting.  Claire was in her fifties and dressed with brightly colored flowing pant suits and matching jewelry.  She always spoke her mind , great at her collections job, ate a grapefruit everyday at lunch and was an avid reader.   Claire never went anywhere without a book.  The beach was her second love  and her favorite activity on her day off was reading on the beach for hours.

                When Claire wasn’t reading a book at her desk at lunch  she would join me and a few others  in the cafeteria.  She would peel and eat her grapefruit, complain about her mother-in law and talk about how much she is looking forward to visiting her grandkids.  In addition to the former topics, she also talked about what she was reading.   That is when I found out about  her ability to read at least three books at the same time without losing her place or mixing up the character plots.  Claire had reading glasses in almost every room in her house so she didn’t have to search for a pair when she needed them.  She had a book upstairs in her bedroom, downstairs in her living room and a book in her bag at all times.  I remember just shaking my head at this thinking it was a bit odd.  I mean, how hard is it to run upstairs and get your book and read it downstairs?  Why do you need to read three books at the same time? 

                Well this summer, I answered my own questions.  This summer I channeled my inner Claire.  I too have reading glasses in many rooms in my house for my fifty-something eyes.  I also had three books going at the same time throughout  the summer!  The light hearted summer beach themed book was in the bedroom and the  intriguing mystery book was in the front room.  The third book  was a combination cookbook and story telling combination that I kept in the living room.  No, I didn’t get mixed up once!  It was great to have a few options available at my disposal.  I enjoyed multiple books instead of just one.  No, it isn’t hard to run up the stairs to get a book.  However it is easier to just pick up the book that is already in the room.

                I don’t know what Claire is doing these days.  I believe she is in her late seventies now.  Over the years  I tried looking for her on social media without any luck.  I like to think of her as doing well and is sitting on the beach this summer with a great book eating her grapefruit and spending time with her grandchildren.