Samantha returns to an old friend

One summer afternoon, as I perused the stacks of a local bookstore instead of enjoying the season's rare sunshine, I happened across a title I'd never seen before. A title from an author who, over the past 18 years, has been like a good friend I turn to again and again, sometimes after not crossing paths for years. But it is always as if we never parted ways. This gem was John Steinbeck's 1962 "Travels with Charley in Search of America."

At the age of 58, Steinbeck felt he needed to reconnect with his country and set upon a journey following the nation's perimeter.

"I, an American writer, writing about America, was working from memory, and the memory is at best a faulty, warpy reservoir. I had not heard the speech of America, smelled the grass and trees and sewage, seen its hills and water, its color and quality of light.... But more than this, I had not felt the country for twenty-five years. In short, I was writing of something I did not know about, and it seems to me that in a so-called writer this is criminal."

The man had grace and command of the English language! While it chronicles his larger journey, it's also a story of everyday living, insight into his life and mind, and as non-fiction it is a chance to experience his humanity, candor and humor. Listen to him introduce Charley:

"It is some years since I have been alone, nameless, friendless, without any of the safety one gets from family, friends, and accomplices.... It's just a very lonely, helpless feeling at first – a kind of desolate feeling. For this reason I took one companion on my journey – an old french gentlemen poodle known as Charley."

For me, as a new single mother, it imprinted deeply on my spirit. It reminded me that there's a whole big country out there, an entire world, and that we can gather up our supplies and go. As I set my new course and embark on a fresh journey, I am exploring the richness of life beyond the walls I thought were so permanent. And in that, I am discovering the rich texture of living that exists in a full sink of dishes, unfolded laundry, the long two block walk to the grocery store, and golden silence of a good nap.

And that a companion is a true gift.