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WARNING: This post contains high degrees of saccharine and dairy. I.E. it's pretty overly sweet and more than a little cheesy.
First let me start with a shout out and thanks to Dan for including me as an occasional writer for posts. It's fun to share, put my own spin on things and since for the most part when I express myself I'm singing or playing an instrument writing is a nice change of pace! Now on to my favorite book memories.
My first and most vivid memory from my childhood would be when Mom would read to us every night before bed. "Make way for ducklings", "Charlotte's Web" and "The Trumpet of the Swan." A chapter each night, my favorite thing about it was time with Mom and sharing in the story.
Many books since then came and went... I grew, so did my taste in books. Never one to go for books that would scare or depress me I eventually would go for books that involved intrigue, mystery and drama. I read Grisham for a while, and then I found Michael Chrichton and loved the pacing of the stories, the complexity of the characters and the less than subtle nod to geeked out science weaved throughout.
Time marched on, I went to college, met my husband and we both worked furiously on our majors. Every once in a while Laith would come up with some incredibly obscure fact on something I'd ask "How did you know that?" The answer was always the same, a crooked grin, a glint in his eye and the words "I read!"
Reading has been a huge part of both of our lives and we wanted to pass this love of reading on to our children. So naturally in addition to being sung to constantly they were also read to a lot even before they were born. The best and most vivid book memory that I will always treasure, is that some time during the third trimester with each child Laith read the "Heffalumps and woozles" story from Winnie the Pooh. This makes me smile for two reasons. The first it shows you just how dedicated a Dad and husband he is, but secondly... if you haven't seen your exhausted, dedicated and devoted spouse attempt to say "a wizzle woozle wizzle woozle was..." at 9 pm in the evening you are letting one of the best things in life pass you by...
It's worked though; all three of our kids have been bitten by the book bug. One of the best sounds is hearing your child read to you. Even before they can read, they look at a book and derive clues from the story and spin their own tale. Then before you know it they are in the 2nd grade and are zipping through "Tiki Tiki Tembo, no saw rembo, cherri bari ru chi pip puri pembo!"
Lastly if you'll permit, I'll bend the rules a little and talk about my favorite author memory. My favorite author memory is when Laith writes. Have you ever listened to someone type? There's a rhythm to it, a tempo. The beat changes with the level of excitement, when a new idea comes along, when inspiration strikes. For several years now, Laith has been writing. Blogs, posts, short stories. It's his creative outlet, his expression. He's participated in several writing challenges, but my favorite is when he participates in NaNoWriMo. Because he enjoys it, of course, but also... over in our home office I get to hear that symphony in several movements. The tempo of the clickety clack, the rise and fall of the orchestration as the ideas take shape and when the writing is complete the new work of art that conveys an idea. And after 18 years listening to this author type, create and express I can't wait to hear the song again.
Thanks
Now, go and read...
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