Let’s Talk | Why I read (kind of)
My mom was a study skills aid when I was a kid. That seems like one of the natural places to start. She helped kids with learning disabilities to improve their time at school, to stay organized, to retain information. But, she was never content to stop there.
My mom was fantastic and she was determined to prepare her children for the best. When I was about three or four, she brought home basic phonics books (Some sadly beaten up knock-offs of Hooked on Phonics).
This was all great, but didn’t make me love reading. It was a favorite activity, but actual love would take a while.
It was only a little while later that I’d moved on to the big bad world of chapter books and very quickly I had outpaced my peers in reading level. My mother was constantly bringing home older classics (sometimes inappropriate in content, if not reading level). Some of these I would love, but for the most part they were not my favorite books.
At about six or seven I found that reading could be really fun, to the point where when I could, I would sneak flashlights into my room to read later.
But at about nine, things got pretty bad for a while at home. A family history of mental illness, my brother’s developmental disability, and just general economic difficulties had made living at home difficult, even for those who were able to leave and get alone time. That’s when I dove deep into reading.
It took quite a few years for things to level out and then we hit another rough spot when I entered high school. My brother was hospitalized for a long time and our recent move to a rural area meant that the only doctors with expertise in his illness were literally hours away by car.
It’s during those two times I realized that I was going to reading as a get-away. Books had always been fun, but they were quickly becoming my safe place in the world. I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently. Books were like my fairy godmother. They were there when I needed my life to be a bit different; they still are.
All I can say to that, really, is “Thank God.”
lowteabooks.com 