I’ve been using this bookmark since the day I turned thirteen. That’ll be 31 years next month. I received it when I was around six or seven, when my mother had it for a free gift when she was a Tupperware dealer. I think. Anyway, somehow she gave it to me or I took it or it was just one of those things that was left lying around. Anyway, the bookmark ended up in my childhood desk I got when I was nine. Someday I’ll write about the desk.

Anyway, when I decided to try reading my first adult novel, The Shining by Stephen King, I grabbed the bookmark from my desk. I’ve been using it ever since.

It’s not my sole bookmark. Working at two different bookstores from 1993 through 2006, I certainly got my hands on plenty of free bookmarks that I still use, but it’s the bookmark, if you get that. It’s usually used for the main book I’m reading.

It’s brown leather has begun cracking over the years for use, but it’s still mostly smooth and has become a source of comfort. The other side is rough, but still somehow comforting, probably because it’s been such a part of my life these past 31 years. I have no idea what the gold stamped coat of arms means, but it’s probably about knowledge and entertainment, which is, of course, what reading is about.

It’s a well-traveled bookmark. Well, as well-traveled as I am, which is not very well-traveled. But it’s been on vacations and trips, and been witness to some good times, some bad times, some great times, and some terrible times. Of course, it’s also been to the many places that the books I’ve read have taken me, around the world and beyond.

The bookmark means more to me than it probably should at this point, but it’s been there through thick and thin, and who knew when Mom gave it to me instead of throwing it away, that it would become some sort of talisman to the great worlds beyond this one, and would be a comforting touch when one is needed.