False Bottoms

Last week I plucked out an old Elizabeth Berg title from my shelf of "faves to save." This one, Say When, is about a guy who takes a job playing Santa after his wife leaves him unexpectedly. Perfect for this time of year, it's about so much more than a man playing Santa. It's about marriage and forgiveness and independence and parenting and... a lot of stuff. This was a quiet book, based more on the wisdom and growth of the characters than the plot.

But none of that is what I had to share with you. I wanted to share this quote from the book that I loved. The guy playing Santa, Griffin, is talking to a friend of his about the children whose requests he hears and how he wishes he could fill the wish of every child:

"I wish I could buy a video game and have it fill the void."

"That doesn't fill it, not even for them," Donna said. "Come on, you know that. We're full of false bottoms from the day we're born."

False bottoms. What a great way to describe it. I know I'll recall it the next time I see it in myself.