Oh,
the reading adventures I have been on and shared with my sons! From the pages
of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, we
have drifted down the muddy Mississippi River on a make shift raft. We hid out
in the cemetery with Huck Finn and watched in fear as ol’ Injun Joe stabbed and
killed the doctor. We laughed and laughed when Tom Sawyer bribed and swindled
his friend into whitewashing that fence, Tom getting an apple for his
cleverness. I would laugh again many times after reading this book while watching
my middle son, Toby, blond-haired, cowlick stubbornly sticking up on the right
side of his forehead, barefooted (always), and a fishing pole swung over his
shoulder, headed down to our own beloved river to fish.
We’ve also shared many tears together
while reading. Our biggest heartbreak came from the pages of Where the Red Fern Grows. We “watched” Billy
pray and work hard to earn money to buy his little redbone puppies. We cheered
for Billy when ol’ Dan and Little Ann learned to hunt and became the best coon
dogs around. We were on the edge of our seats, scared for Billy and Ol’ Dan and Little Ann when that mountain lion came from out of nowhere and attacked them.
Our hearts pounded, and we would glance around at each other to see if everyone
was as afraid as we were, hoping and praying they would all be
alright. Then we cried, and we cried, and we cried
when Ol’ Dan didn’t make it no matter how hard Billy’s mama tried. I had to
stop reading and walk out to my front porch, to get some fresh air hoping to
stop the violent shaking of my chest as my heart was being torn from my body only
to look around and find myself surrounded by my three wonderful boys,
all heartbroken as well and wanting to console me, make sure I was okay, and lighten
the moment with some teasing about my not being able to read through the cracks
in my voice. There’s no one else I would’ve wanted to share that experience
with.
Together, we have learned valuable life lessons. We learned from a little prince what it means to be responsible with our friendships and that sometimes the heart can see what the eye cannot. And, while reading, I looked around at my own little princes and learned that moments like these were gifts not to be taken for granted. In the pages of Touching Spirit Bear, we learned the damage that anger can do to others and to ourselves if not controlled. We watched helpless as Cole fought to stay alive after the bear attack. We felt his hunger pangs. We winced as he threw up the grasses and worms he tried to eat to sustain himself. We were proud of him when he came to realize the pain he was putting himself through by hanging on to anger. We learned the power of forgiveness, and had several conversations about what it means to forgive someone when they’ve hurt us, how important it is to ask for forgiveness when we hurt others, and that sometimes the people we need to forgive the most is ourselves.
We grow intellectually when we read. Studies and statistics have proven this to be true. I believe we also grow emotionally, spiritually, and, potentially, as a better human through reading. I am a reader, always have been. I am also a mother. To be able to combine these two loves, my love for reading and my love for my children, has been the greatest blessing of my life. I have a quote pinned on my Pinterest account that says, “Reading to children even before they can understand words teaches them to associate books with love and affection.” I hope that our reading time together will become a treasured memory for them and enrich their lives as much as it has mine. I hope when they think back on the books we’ve read together, that they also recall the laughter, tears, and lessons we have shared. Mostly, I hope that “our story” becomes a favorite. After all, from the words of Margaret Atwood, “in the end we’ll all become stories.”
Works Cited
Atwood,
Margaret. Moral Disorder. McClelland
and Stewart, 2006.
