Thanks Mom! by Rambling Raven

This past week we celebrated Mother’s Day. And although I did the traditional gift and family dinner with my mother, it just never seems to be enough. I can never find just the correct card or pen the exact words I want to use to express my gratitude to my mother. My mother is like most moms in that she loved and nurtured her children. And like most mothers and daughters we haven’t always seen eye to eye on every single subject. Yet, she is always there for me and I can talk to her about anything. There is a very special gift my mother gave me as a child that I treasure today, in fact, I credit this gift she gave me for shaping me into the person I am today.

My earliest memory of my mother is of her reading to me. I was fascinated by the fact that she could look at the pages in a book and from the words an entertaining story would spring. My first books were Dr. Seuss books. I loved every one of them. At night my mother would come and sit by my bed and ask me what story I wanted her to read before I went to sleep. It never mattered to me because they were all so funny and interesting. I would randomly run and get one, she would open the book and from her lips would spring forth a story that made me laugh and giggle. It truly was like magic. I honestly thought that my mother was the most special person in the world because she could tell the funniest, silliest things that made me smile.

One day, as I listened to my mother read to me, I asked her if she could show me how to do what she was doing. She smiled and told me we she would show me in the morning. True to her words, the very next day my mother began to teach me how to make all the different sounds from the letters that I had seen in all those books. And thus, at the age of three, my mother began to teach me the magic of reading.

From that day on I developed a life long love of the written word. I soon became the reader at bedtime with my mother occasionally jumping in to help correct mistakes I made. I out grew those old Dr. Seuss books and once again my mother came to the rescue. She took me to the local library and opened up yet another world to me. For the next several years we religiously went to the local library every Saturday afternoon. I would chose two books from the children’s section and patiently wait as my mother selected one of those glossy, thick paperbacks for herself.

All that time my mother and I spent reading to one another and going back and forth to the library we developed a special relationship. I would talk forever with my mom about the fates my characters were facing. Before I knew it, we would be sitting talking about real-life predicaments. Eventually I got to the age where I could go to the library on my own. And there came a time when my mother and I stopped having so many conversations around the plots of books. However, we never stopped having our hour long one-on-one conversations.

I still talk to my mom about anything and everything. Nowadays, we both find ourselves a little busier than we have been in the past. My mom doesn’t read as often as she use to. Still, whenever one of us finds a really good book we call one another and give all the juicy details of the plot. I guess some old habits are hard to change.

Thanks Mom. Thanks for instilling within me the love and appreciation of a great book and for having someone I can share that love with. Reading has always been an important part of my life since the day you began to teach a three year old how to do it.

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