Ordinary Life is a collection of short stories by one of my favorite contemporary authors, Elizabeth Berg. The first story alone, "Ordinary Life; a Love Story" is worth the price of admission. It captures the small moments that really make our lives, as Mavis locks herself in the bathroom for a week and takes out her memories to thumb over. So many of those memories spoke to me - being young and sharing a bed with a sister, sitting and talking with that same sister later when you are married and dealing with so many things, all the belongings we used to have - pink bras, colored mixing bowls. Ms. Berg paints these lovely, exquisitely select pictures, and brings our own emotions into focus.

"Caretaking" is a sad but touching story of a mother fading away into Alzheimer's. "Martin's Letter to Nan" is the rebuttal to one of Ms. Berg's earlier novels, "The Pull of the Moon", which I really loved because I felt it was the one unfinished part of that novel and reading this short story made the novel feel more complete. It also said a lot of honest things. "One Time at Christmas in My Sister's Bathroom" almost handed me my past on a platter, except my own story with my own father did have a more satisfying resolution. Each of the other stories in the collection were enjoyable to read, some are bound to touch you more than others.

As always, after reading one of Ms. Berg's works, I feel spiritually lifted, more able to see important truths in small things. I'm glad to be able to read her words.