~*What reading means to me..*~

I honestly can't remember a time in my life when books were not a companion of mine. My Mom, who is no longer with me started me on a journey where I fell in love with a few things and was destined to stay in love and reading was one of the things I remember best. I remember even before I started school I loved books. There was this pop up Snow White book that my Mom bought me as a surprise when I was around two or so. I spent hours playing with that book, opening it up and watching the characters pop up to greet me. There was the "Little Golden Books" like "The Poky Puppy" and "The Shy Little Kitten" that I remember well.  I remember my Mom reading me "The Night Before Christmas" every Christmas Eve before I climbed into bed to dream of all the goodies the fat man in red would bring me.

I remember clearly my first book fair in second grade and one of the books I bought was a book about Pebbles Flinstone. I was too thrilled for words and then my Mom found the whole Nancy Drew series at a garage sale in mint condition! We would read these books together(though my Mom confessed that she would often finish the books the same night we started them as she wanted to find out who the villain was!).

The best though? When I was able to bring home the order forms home from school so that I could check the boxes on what I wanted. There was nothing better than coming in from recess to find a stack of books waiting on my desk! There was a book about dinosaurs and one about Helen Keller that had the sign language alphabet in the back. I would curl up in the rocking chair reading on cold Winter nights or read the adventures of Peter Pan, Raggedy Ann and Andy and Frog and Toad under a willow tree in the Summer.

As a tween and teen I discovered romance, murder mysteries, horror, sci fi and classics. Books were my friends when I was ill with asthma and bed ridden. Books took me to places I always dreamed of going or perhaps even places I would be too scared to visit. They gave me a boyfriend that was heroic and brave when I was nursing a broken heart.

After my Mom died they gave me memories of her. Reading together, sharing series and discussing who we may want to be. I always thought it would be cool to be Nancy Drew so that I could solve mysteries or perhaps be Mildred Hubble from "The Worst Witch" series. What House in Harry Potter we would be in. For the record I am a Ravenclaw! The older I get the more I love books and what they do for me. Filling my heart and feeding my soul.

There are very few things that mean as much to me as books do. I will forever be grateful to my Mom for the first book she placed in my hands.