03-21, To Read, To Write, To Love

Forever among our favorite places – the library. Jonathan (who turns 5 today [3 or 4 in this picture])

When I lost myself between the pages of many beautiful books as a little (and later teenage) girl, I had no idea the impact it would have on my writing. In fact, I didn’t discover that until a couple of decades later when I started my teaching career at a reading workshop.

The prolific presenter indicated that there was a strong correlation between the two, contending that writers often emulated the genres they most liked to read. I was stunned at the logic and how well it applied to me personally. It made me appreciate reading as an art, science and past time that much more; but, I was most grateful to my mom – because she was the single greatest influence I had that led me to dive into a book.

When I began to understand the affectionate marriage between reading and writing, especially its impact on children’s thinking, development, conversation, vocabulary, connections and – well, I could just go on forever. I imagine you get the idea. When I thought about everything reading had come to mean to me, even more so after I saw how greatly it empowered my students, I couldn’t help but want to immerse my own boys in the same magical experiences.

Fast forward (or should I say reflecting on a time not long ago), I was tickled and warmed in the most wonderful ways when I saw my youngest son sitting next to this statute with a children’s book in his own hand at our local library. It’s a moment I wanted to remember forever – that he too, could fall in love with literacy – like I do over and over again. May there soon come a day when every child is willing and able to get lost in the pages of books beyond number – and may it inspire them to write words too many to count. I’m still hopeful.

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