This blog subject is not one that will appeal to everyone. It is based on one of the most amazing parts of my life. Reading is something I must have in my life.
When I started kindergarten I was five years old. It was 1953 and there were accepted standards for school. After I had been attending kindergarten for about a month, my kindergarten teacher requested a conference with my mother. Now remember for my parents kids were a brand new thing. I just showed up and they had no idea what to do. My parents didn't know what to do with the short person though it helped when they discovered i could do basic household chores.
So my mother had no clue what the conference was about. My mother met with my teacher, the principal, and the reading instructor for the elementary school. They proceeded to severely caution my mother. They reminded her that five years old was very young and it was not an acceptable policy to teach one at my age how to read. My mother responded with the classic retort when she looked at them and said, "He can read?" It turned into an afternoon of discovery. They questioned my mother and discovered that she had left me in front of the television for years - propped up with pillows on either side. During my hours I had watched commercials and figured out how to read. Not just read but read to a fifth and sixth grade level.
Now remember I was growing up in a type of war zone that was not pleasant. Reading gave me the opportunity to escape from hell into a magical world of anything.
In addition, it is where my mother escaped. Everytime we moved the very first thing we did was go to the library and get a new library card.
I had seminal moments which just added to the mystique of reading. When I was in elementary school a friend of my mom's left the teaching profession at his college. He had been an English professor. So he gave my mom his entire bookcase of the books he had for all his reading English classes.
Suddenly I had 30 of the best books in the world. I was reading Shakespeare I was reading "The Most Dangerous Game." I was reading Ernest Hemingway. I was in third grade and I was in heaven.
By the time I was in middle school I realized my socialization skills were minimal. Now one of my beliefs is that middle school is designed as a torture chamber. Bad things happen from bullying to worse. I discoveed I could volunteer to work in the library. Every day after school when the dangerous waters of "other students" were present, I was in the library. Not only that, they waived the three book rule and I would take home ten books at a time.
Nothing has changed from those days. My Kindle notified me that I have been reading daily for over seven years (thus I have not missed a day of reading in that time). Any time of day or night I can go anywhere and be entertained or awed or safe. It is a haven I have that can never be taken away. I give such blessings to this place.
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