#textbook amy krouse rosenthal

“If one is generously contracted 80 years, that amounts to 29,220 days on Earth. Playing that out, how many more times then, really, do I get to look at a tree? 12,395? There has to be an exact number. Let’s just say it is 12,395. Absolutely, that is a lot, but it is not infinite, and anything less than infinite seems too measly a number and is not satisfactory. Also, I would like to stare at my kids a few million more times. I could stare at them a few million more times easy. Tell me: How many more times do I get to cut an apple? How many more times will I put on my shoes? Kiss my mother? Use an ATM? How many more times do I get to toss the salad and ask How much longer ’til the chicken’s ready? as Jason pokes at it on the grill? How many more times do I get to lift my head from the pillow to see what time it is? Run inside after getting drenched in the rain? Look for the Ping-Pong ball? Check my email? Text <3 to the kids? Catch a whiff of jasmine? Use a straw?”

–Amy Krouse Rosenthal