Playing Golf in the Stacks

This Saturday I bundled up the kids and drove to Lawrence to see my mom and do something I've never done before. Played miniature golf inside a library. It wasn't any old library either. This library was the one I grew up in. I didn't have a TV, the internet hadn't been invented yet, and I loved books (still do!).

Saturday was a special day. It was their last Caddy Stack miniature golf fundraiser before they remodeled the library. Gone were the shelves and shelves of books I would wander for hours, replaced by an empty room full of golf courses designed by local businesses. All of them themed to represent Lawrence, KS or libraries in general. One of my favorite was the Dr. Seuss one.

My kids and my mom had a wonderful time.

Quantril's Raid Golf Course

At the end of the course, they had a cup full of markers so that we could write various things on the walls before they tore it all a part.

So we wrote a few things.

My youngest thanking them for letting us play with "Grammy"

A phrase that popped into my head. Might use it in a story.

My mom went to this library for 35 years!

So many days were spent amongst the books at the library. It truly taught me to love books.

My oldest came up with his own thing.

It was, in retrospect, a bittersweet moment. The next time I would set foot in that library, it would be a different building with new memories. Gone will be the moments of my childhood spent roaming the isles looking at the books neatly lined up on the shelf. I won't be able to point out a favorite reading spot to my children.

And for those of you wondering where all the books went. Some are in storage while the rest are housed in the old Border's store a few blocks away.

I look forward to the seeing the new building, but I know it won't be the home it used to be. I'll still visit it when I'm in town to see family. It is a library and I do love books.

'Till Next Time