Love Affair
originally published in "Prose & Poetry" section of
All Things Girl
(part of the "Editor Style" edition - July 2004)
I think I was eight; I know that I was in the second grade. We had this list of books to read for the year. By Christmas, the box beside each book on my list had a little checkmark in Mrs. Dean’s neat hand. I liked books. I enjoyed how the words flowed into each other. And the awkward little girl, who was never good athletically, enjoyed being first for a change. It was the first time I understood that it was ok to be more intellectual than the other kids. When I look back, I’m sure that a broken arm that kept me indoors helped the cause of completing the list.
But I didn’t experience love until a few weeks after the list was complete and I received my first Nancy Drew book. The adventures of Nancy, George and Bess made me crave the next mystery. I experienced lust at finding these yellow-backed books at the local bookstore and enjoyed the sound of cracking the spine when I became the first to read that particular book.
But beyond those fifty-five novels, I discovered other books along the way: Trixie Belden, Cherry Ames, Little Women, the Chronicles of Narnia, and more. I enjoyed the storylines and the adventures that carried me well beyond my pink and green bedroom.
The summer between my sixth and seventh grade years, my grandmother was very ill and spent more than a month in the hospital. Though I was a little older than the target reader, Trixie and Nancy comforted me in ways my mother couldn't: they took me away from the hospital and along with them for adventure. I also ventured into other authors that summer, even taking a foray into authors considered more adult in nature, like Mary Higgins Clark and Danielle Steel. While at the hospital, I was going through a book a day.
My love of books has continued well into adulthood, and I can see the similarities and differences between the girl of long ago, and the woman now. I still love mysteries, adventures, and authors who create characters that hang around from novel to novel. I am often happy to re-read favorite novels, as it takes me back to loved characters and familiar places. But I’ll admit that I’ve expanded my reading horizons to include some biographies and historical tomes as well. Where once my books were well organized on bookshelves (and under three-dollars a piece), my books now are scattered throughout my home, with my main storage spot being the upper shelves of my closet. And to be perfectly honest, I’m afraid to add up the cost of all the books I’ve purchased over the last few years. I think someone recently suggested I should get a library card!
I'll tell you that I’m more than blessed in the fact that both of my daughters seem to have a love for the written word as well. Not too many thirteen year olds have ventured into To Kill a Mockingbird simply because it's on the list of "often banned books". Maybe it's the influence of their mother, always having a book (or two) on hand.