This post is syndicated with my Substack.
There’s no denying it, Nancy loved to read.
People remember a lot of things about my mom. She liked dogs, she collected dolls, she had a dry sense of humor, and she was incredibly warm and kind to any and all humans. But she also loved reading. She consumed books like they were essential to living. I don’t remember seeing her without a book in hand. She would read at the dinner table, at the doctor’s office, in the bathroom, and in bed. She would even read while watching TV.
Reading was something she cherished and taught me to cherish. She read to me every day as a child and our house was filled with books. It was a treat to be able to retreat to my room and read. The punishment of being sent to one’s room was no punishment at all! Because there awaited a whole world of fantastic creatures, magical places, and dangerous adventures.
Imagine my surprise when one day she told me that until eighth grade she couldn’t read. Her greatest fear was being called to stand up in front of the class and read from a book, her weakness exposed. One day that happened and her teacher took her aside. Luckily her teacher understood her problem, she had dyslexia.
That teacher became one of her greatest lifelong friends. She taught her how to wrangle the words on a page and gave her the gift of reading. My mom soon discovered other worlds, other lives, mysteries, and adventures—and she escaped there often.
This is what I love about reading. Words have the power to open the mind and contain an entire universe within the confines of a book. It’s pure magic.
Without a job, I’ve been reading quite a lot. And it has made me curious and a little jealous, or perhaps ambitious. I want to make a world—I want to hold that power. Can I do it?
So I’ve been writing. Perhaps nothing will come of it and right now it’s terrible. The other day I broke one of my character’s hearts so badly I cried and cried. So, maybe I shouldn’t hold this power. But, I’m having fun and hopefully one day I’ll share it with you and you can explore this new world with me.