kindred spirits

When I was first writing this post, I was thinking about the word “homage.” I used to really like that word. When I lived in Maryland, my piano studio made a CD recording called “Homage to Chopin.” But I have recently gotten really annoyed with that word. I couldn’t figure out why, and then I realized that it was because I had heard Stephenie Meyer use the word in an interview. She said that she considered her novel Eclipse to be an homage to Wuthering Heights. This greatly offended me because Wuthering Heights happens to be one of my favorite books of all time (and more and more I’m thinking it might be #1, though I have commitment issues when it comes to books). Not only does Eclipse not live up to Bronte, but I really cannot stand how often Meyer uses allusions in her books as if to prove that she can read. 

Now you are probably thinking that this post has absolutely nothing to do with its title, but that is where you are wrong and where I start putting all the pieces together. I was thinking about the word homage and then thought of Stephenie Meyer which made me think of Wuthering Heights, which made me think of a rather beat up copy I own of it. That’s probably my most treasured piece of literature that I own because of the woman who gave it to me: Ms. Huie.

For some reason whenever I think about Ms. Huie, I can’t help but think kindred spirit, the little expression Anne Shirley (from Anne of Green Gables) gave to those people she just clicked with in life (Gilbert Blythe, btw, is another one of my literary crushes). I don’t know what it was about Ms. Huie, but as soon as I started hearing about her from my sophomore friends during my freshman year of high school, I couldn’t wait until I was sitting in her classroom. Maybe it was the fact that everyone said she was so hard, and I wanted a hard English teacher finally. Or maybe it was how she tried to put negative grades into the gradebook for fun. Or how extra credit in her class involved going to an art museum. But I have a sneaking suspicion, the magic lay in her earrings. Her long, crazy, dangling earrings had me convinced that Ms. Huie and I were going to be very good friends.

Now I have my own outrageous earring collection. So outrageous that one of my best friends in college thought we wouldn’t get along because I had too many accessories (Read: high maintenance). haha, hopefully you know me well enough not to judge me .