The Gift of Reading
June 15, 2008

Each year that Mother’s Day and Father’s Day rolls around reminds me that my parents, both of them now 84, are a precious gift. I never forget this at any time, but these two days are especially poignant. One year they will not be here. One year I will not make the trip to see them, and I dread that day. It’s why I make a point of telling them how much I love them as often as I can, and why I enjoy sitting and talking with them rather than buying them gifts.

The best gifts they have given me have that same quality, the gift of self, of sharing, of teaching and of just being together. They certainly gave that to me along with a lifelong love of reading. I wish I could remember being held while I was read to or reading to them in the evenings after dinner. I can’t. But I know it happened not only because they told me but because their willingness to do it— despite my father holding two jobs to support a growing family and my mother having several young children under foot)—gave me a gift that has lasted through not just years but through all my life changes. Aside from them, reading has probably been the most stabilizing influence in my life. I could not imagine a more perfect gift.

If you have children, read to them. Have them read to you even if only for ten minutes as you prepare dinner or set the table. Better yet, turn off the television—you really don’t need the latest news—and the computer and spend a half-hour each evening enjoying a book with them. Let them see you reading on a regular basis. Take them to your local book festival. Is there a good used bookstore that has a wonderful selection of children’s books? Go there for a fun afternoon. Teach them by showing them how wonderful reading is, and let them see your joy when you read. The love of reading is the gift they will never outgrow, never wear out and never lose. And in a world where digitalization is having an increasing influence, it is important that children be given the ability to build their own imaginations. Books are one of the best foundations. I know that. And so do you.

This week . . . 
MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) is having a exhibition titled Book/Shelf that runs through July 7. The various exhibits “tackle the idea of books by stretching the conventions of the medium,” and it is fabulous to see the artists’ interpretations using photography, film, printing, assemblage, drawing and sound recording. Though not the entire exhibit, the online version is nevertheless an intriguing overview. You may never view books in quite the same way again.  

Until next week, read well, read often and read on!

Lauren

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