BRIDGET, UMBRELLA

My name is Bridget, I am an umbrella and I live in the library. Most days I just stay in the umbrella stand beside the front door. I am red with a yellow handle and little books on my canopy. I have been in the library for a long time. The lady who owns me, Millie takes very good care of me. She never leaves me lying on the floor, someone did that once and the poor umbrella got broken and never was the same. Millie always puts me in the stand. Sometimes she takes me outside if the sun is too hot or it is raining. I remember one day it was raining, the wind was blowing, and Millie grabbed me from the stand, and we stepped out the library door. She stood there for a minute waiting for a cab. As we walked to the cab the wind tried to blow me from her hands. Millie did not let go and finally we were inside the cab, and I was thankful she had a strong grip on me.

Now maybe you think what else can an umbrella have to tell you. It is true maybe we are only protectors from the sun or rain but, we have been used for so much more. My cousin is known as a parasol, and she lives in France her name is Gracey. She lives in a palace where she provides shade for the Queen when she is out in the garden. Being a parasol, she is mostly used for sunny days. Once Gracey belonged to a dancer who would twirl her around and around on stage. This made Gracey very dizzy, and she was glad when the dancer gave her to her grandmother the queen. Gracey has a yellow silk top and brown handle and has been at the palace a long time. I saw a picture of her one time in a newspaper with the queen. My dad is a huge umbrella that sits over a table down on the beach and my mom is a beach umbrella. Millie takes me there sometimes and I get to see them.

I being an umbrella am used mostly to keep people dry and sometimes I get to go out in the sun. My canopy is made of heavy material that the rain just drops off of. I get to go lots of places with Millie, the post office, city hall and my favorite place the cafe. Often when I am there, I can spend time with my friends, the galoshes. They get to play in the puddles when it rains and protect people's feet. Millie wears galoshes sometimes. Once Millie and I went to a baby shop where I saw a umbrella hanging in the window upside down. It really looked funny. It had ribbons hanging on it and a sign saying Baby Shower Ideas. Maybe my life isn't all that exciting, maybe I will never live in a palace or get my picture in the paper but, I am happy to be in my umbrella stand by the door in the library. Next time you come to the library put your umbrella in the stand, I like making new friends.