Thursday, May 29, 2008

The saddest thing ever written

I defy anyone with a school-age child to read the last chapter of The House at Pooh Corner aloud to this child and not be reduced to a blubbering wreck by the time you're done. I think it's impossible. As soon as my son was old enough to sit through the chapters without squirming, they became part of our nighttime reading ritual. Now, years later, his sister is at that same point in her attention-span, so I've been regaling her with the same classic tales of Poohsticks and Blustery Days and so forth, and every damn time I hit that last chapter, I'm a wreck.

Try it. Snuggle in with your preschooler or young-schooler at bedtime, start reading, and tell me that you didn't need tissues at hand. If you made it through with nary a tear, you truly have a cold, icy heart.

5 comments:

Monda said...

Oh my. The final talk and all the time Chrispher Robin knows he won't come back the same. Pooh just promises to wait anyway.

And there's Christopher Robin staring at the res of hi life and knowing he can't do Nothing anymore because they won't let you.

I gett weepy every sinlge time.

Monda said...

Forgive the typos. I'm having a moment.

mpclemens said...

Argh, I understand completely. I'm getting watery just thinking about it.

Today was the last day of middle-child's preschool -- she's a proper school child in the fall -- and I started rethinking about this chapter last night.

It's a heartbreaker.

Strikethru said...

I haven't gotten around to reading this one yet, but with a two year old, it's inevitable.

I will have kleenex on hand.

Duffy Moon said...

Oh, dear Lord. Don't get me started. That one is right up there with "The Giving Tree" and "I'll Love You Forever, I'll Love You For Always".

I am *such* a marshmellow.