Flashback: Reading

{Check out other posts about reading at Chocolate On My Cranium's Wordfull Wednesday}

Last Month: I'm sitting at my bookclub. My bookclub is filled with women I admire who all come from my ward at church. We're discussing what future theme's or books we want to do. I suggest that we have a children's books month. I say "We can all re-read our favorite's from our youth and talk about how they affected us and why we loved them. I have so many fond memories!" To my surprise, people are not as excited about this idea as me. The conversation rolls around to other things. We finally come back to what we're going to read next month and one tactful woman says "Maybe we could read "Cheaper By The Dozen" and also talk about books from our youth?" People like this idea. Somebody says "Yeah, because I didn't really read much growing up." ...What?... Really? I know that there are many people who don't enjoy reading like I do. My husband is one of them. I'm not trying to judge, but I guess I assumed the woman in my bookclub were not a part of that group. Good for them for figuring out how great it is eventually!

18 years ago: I distinctly remember going to the library one day, looking through the shelves as always, and thinking "Oh, man! I've read all the books in this library!" Now, I hadn't really read ALL the books in the library. But I had read all the books in the young adult section that were of even just mild interest to me. Every BabySitter's Club book. Every Little House on the Prairie book. Every Sweet Valley High book. And all the books inbetween those. I soon discovered the Science Fiction/Fantasy section and starting devouring that. Then I found Mary Higgens Clark and Danielle Steel and the mystery thrillers. When I got my driver's license I discovered that the church bookstore had a whole new crop of books - the LDS fiction ones.

9 years ago: I was serving my full-time mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We were only supposed to read the church-approved-for-missionaries books. I think there were 9 of them. And I read them all. Some twice. Some three times. And I read my scriptures daily, of course. But I really, really missed reading for fun. One Christmas Season I got a Christmas card with a quote from A Christmas Carol. I called my Mission President that day and asked special permission to read A Christmas Carol that season as long as I did all my other duties too. He said yes. I stretched the rules and read it twice. It felt so good.

I have many other memories of reading. Grandpa reading How The Grinch Stole Christmas. Grandma reading Richard Scarry on a tape. Mom coming into my room late at night and telling me not to read laying flat on my back (how did I do that?). I love to read. I love books. Some day I'd really like to have a true library in my house. A room filled with books and a couple of big squishy chairs with great lamps right next to them. ...Some day...