The Route by Gale Sears

The Route
by
Gale Sears
From the back cover:

Zipping along life¹s highway . . .

Fifty makes you think. Thirty makes you morose, and forty makes you
panic, but fifty makes you think. Half a century, and what is my life?
Does it resemble anything I dreamed at sixteen, or expected at twenty,
or hoped at twenty-five? What am I doing here? . . . I thought of
climbing to the top of a high mountain in Tibet to consult a wise man,
but I like vacations where there ís indoor plumbing and vegetation.
Since I already attended church, I thought perhaps I could pay closer
attention. Maybe I¹d been missing a great fundamental truth. Well,
come to find out, I had been missing something. . . . (excerpt from The
Route)

Carol, a middle-aged wife and mother, is pondering the meaning
of life. On a trip to the grocery store to find some energizing dark
chocolate, she sees a sign asking for volunteers to deliver meals to
the elderly. When Carol decides to take a chance and help out, she¹s
in for a life-changing‹and route-altering‹experience.

I recently read this book and, wow, what a delightful, inspiring, and thought-provoking book. I LOVED it. The voice of the main character, Carol, is humorous and insightful. She discovers truths about herself while she freely gives service to the elderly people on her lunch route.

I grew up with my grandparents so I spent time with seniors. This book took me back to the time I spent with older people and made me feel nostalgic for that time in my life. Older people have so much wisdom and we seem, as a society, to forget that. The Route reminds us to value those who have lived life longer than we have.

I loved the characters and how Sears was able to make each one unique. I loved that she included death as part of the reality of living with, and serving, the elderly but didn't make that the focus of the story. Instead, the focus is on the individual characters and their personalities and their value to Carol, the main character, and to society in general.

I highly recommend this book. It's an easy read with lots of introspection and humor sprinkled throughout. Do yourself a favor and read it. You'll love it.