Today I am grateful for books.
Growing up as an only child, books were my friends. Like my parents, I always had my nose in a book. On our weekend trips to Kentucky, I would be reading in the back seat with a flashlight.
On our cross-country trips, I was buried in my storybooks.
Heading up through Michigan and on around the shores of Lake Superior, I missed a great amount of scenery because I was caught up in finishing a book and moving on to the next one.
I married a man who is much like me. We counted up our bookcases in our house a couple of days ago, and they number 27. And, we actually need a couple of more.
Once, we invited some friends over for dinner. As they looked at the books in our dining room, the woman asked, "Have you actually read all of these?"
You bet we have. Some more than once.
We raised our children to immerse themselves in books, for they could take you back in time and fly you into the future. I enrolled them in every reading program I was aware of. And, some of our favorite memories are the rainy days when we would head off to the library. We would each nestle ourselves into a corner and read away.
Upon checkout, each of the kids were allowed to check out ten books. I had bags and a milk crate, for on the way to the van we were lugging over 40 new books.
When I have volunteered to take someone to a medical appointment, or help in some other way, they may be hesitant to make me wait.
Are you kidding me? I always have a book with me. As we waited for kids at piano lessons, swim meets, track practice, etc., we always had a book.
I still do. I have tablets which hold 400 books at this point. I am in a constant state of learning.
But, there is still something about the feel and smell of a book that I love. I can recall holding "The Black Stallion" by Walter Farley, and all of the books in that series in my hands wherever I went. "Christy", by Catherine Marshall became one of my all-time favorites. I still have my original copies of both of those books, which I secretly ordered from Doubleday Books behind my mom's back.
I'm grateful for the literacy I have to read and comprehend good writings. I'm grateful for the diversity of subjects that have expanded the capacity of my mind -- everything from religious books of scripture to tombstone epitaphs to migration trails to political genre.
My sponge-like mind is far from being filled.
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