Did you know that Ruth Bell Graham liked to compare her husband Billy Graham to Puddleglum?
Quoth she, “I’m married to a Puddleglum. And yet he turns out to be the most sterling character I’ve ever known.”
Case in point, here’s an anecdote from one of her books:
“We landed at the Miami airport. Bill had to stay, while I was to fly home. He checked the weather and learned it was not good in Atlanta, Georgia, where I would have to change planes for Asheville, North Carolina.
‘You probably won’t be able to land,’ he predicted. ‘If not, I don’t know where you will go—probably on to New York City. But if they try to land, I hope you make it; Atlanta is one of the busiest airports in the United States. And if you do, I’d advise you to spend the night in a motel—if you can get a room, which I doubt—as a lot of planes will be grounded and the motels will be full. In that case, rent a car, if you can get one, and drive home. But drive carefully because you could have a wreck.”
And like--can’t you just hear Puddleglum in that?
“You won’t be able to land, I shouldn’t wonder. And even if you do, like as not you won’t be able to get a motel what with all the rest of the grounded planes. You could always try to rent a car and drive home--if all the other stranded chaps don’t beat you to it. But drive carefully, mind! Otherwise, you might get into a wreck, and then there’ll be funeral expenses.”
I just love them all so much.
