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The Bible, the Boy and the Gum....

handy

handy

Member
When I was baptized back in July of 1979, my best friend Kathy gave me a New American Standard Bible. She wrote on the inside cover some nice things and also quoted Jeremiah 29:11. I do have other bibles, but this has been my "go to" bible for 32 years now. It was beginning to fall apart, several pages in Genesis, Romans and Hebrews and some of the maps were no longer attached. I had to be very careful not to let them slip out and lose them.

For my birthday, my hubby "kidnapped" my bible and my in-laws took it in and had it rebound. It was so wonderful to have my bible...the one with all the many notes, highlights, underscores and stuff that I've been jotting in it for 32 years back in good working condition.

I was thrilled!!!!

So, this morning, my son has some time on his hands because, unlike his sister he is a morning person and a generally pretty organized type. Since he had extra time before needing to take off for school, I suggested that he grab a bible and review the books of the bible in order, as that is his catechism lesson. Which he did.

Later, once we got the tornado sometimes referred to as my daughter out the door, I went over to my son to review what he had studied....

....and found that somehow, my son, my 11 year old boy, got gum smeared across the title page and table of contents of MY bible.

I just wanted to cry.

He went to the room he uses at the town house and Steve tried to see if he could pick the gum off, but it was just too smeary to be able to be picked off. Smeary, and completely sticky. There was going to be no way to ever close those pages without them becoming glued together. And, not just the pages, but also the pages opposite of them.

Anyway, Thomas had to leave for school and I could tell he felt terrible about it. He left and I went into his room to see if the Internet had any suggestions, only to find that he had already googled "How to get gum off a book". I sort of ceased to be angry at him any more...I was so glad that he was working proactively to correct his mistake.

And, it turns out that if you take a small bit of isopropyl alcohol on a q-tip and gently rub the gum, sort of like an eraser, it takes gum off of even the thin paper of a bible pretty doggone well. I rubbed a little too hard in one spot and now have a tiny hole in the title page, but nothing that's too big of a deal. Just one of it's "battle scars" so to speak.

My boy was very glad when he got home and I was able to tell him it was all good.
 
Glad you got it off!! I was going to suggest the freezer. Gum is very brittle when frozen and crackles right off.

(And when I read the title I thought, "gun! What did he do, shoot it?")
 
I had an agonising experience. My own was beaten by rain when I was going home. I had bagged it with other book. That was in my early Highschool years. So, I was hurrying home with the confidence that The bag was water-resistant. I got home only to notice the inside was very wet. I brought out my bible (a gift from the Gideons - it was a new testament bible, had deep blue Color, and was shared to students) only to notice it was swollen and wet. The printed ink had melted and had stained it. Every single word was blurred.
I felt shrapnel shoot out from my eyes. Throughout the period I was so sad. It got worse when friends waved theirs before me.
I could not use it. My bible had became fat and strong, and with all pages glued together.
I tried to separate them and ended up tearing the whole thing.
Painful!!! :sad
 
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I am glad it all worked out well and it came off easy.


I wonder in the son is going to get off as easily ;)
 
Glad it all worked out.

There's a saying, "The way to a clean heart is to have a dirty Bible." ;)

But, man, I remember, one time my sister took my Bible and hid it...Ironically, it was probably the most ungodly my family had seen me act in a while trying to get it back...:oops
 
Let me just share two things about battered up bibles and books.

The first is whatever I underlined in my bible, I typed the verse and comment on an electronic file and uploaded it to electronic storage (in this case, my web site). I can take any new bible and underline and write the same comments over again and indeed I already done so. It may take you a day, but you will then be back on board.

Secondly, I would not recommend this with a historic book or special book, but otherwise if a whole clump of pages comes out from cheap binding, a thin line of Elmer's glue on the spine of the book takes care of that nicely. When you reattach the pages by pressing them to the glue, they may stick out a tad further than the rest, but it otherwise makes the book intact and readable again.

In Handy's case, it was better done professionally. I'm just talking about a common book.
 
Not fair for you guys to change avatar pictures :grumpy



I am reading your post Dora... and man this reads like a Handy post DUH :thud:
 
handy said:
Anyway, Thomas had to leave for school and I could tell he felt terrible about it.
Click to expand...
Parents love Remorseful Children and easily forgive them their offences.

handy said:
He left and I went into his room to see if the Internet had any suggestions, only to find that he had already googled "How to get gum off a book". I sort of ceased to be angry at him any more...I was so glad that he was working proactively to correct his mistake.
Click to expand...
:thumbsup I know he must have said: Sweet mom
 
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