Shoes & Ships & Sealing Wax — Alma Alexander

Human lives are full of moments, bright or dark â€" moments when you feel your breath being taken away by the beauty of a starlit sky, or feel your heart being broken by the passing of a beloved pet, or being surprised by joy, or falling into a memory. There are moments in which you reflect on the things that you do, on the person who you are, on the life that you have lived, or are living, or yearn to live. These are moments which are as unique in themselves as every individual whom they touch is in themselves unique â€" and yet, also, you glance sideways at the moments of others and you recognize them as a shared experience.

That is what this collection of essays is about â€" sharing those moments. A writer reflects on the things that have touched her and shaped her existence â€" and invites the world in, to sit at the fireside with her, and share triumphs and tragedies, to share hopes, and dreams, and wishes, and memories.