“The longest journey begins with but a single step…”
ancient Chinese proverb
I have long been in love with the written word. I love reading. I love anything to do with books, in fact. I love to read them. I love the weight of them in my hands. I love reading about the authors who wrote them. I especially love the smell of them.
To this day, the essence of a new book, with its promising scent of fresh-milled paper and drying ink that almost sticks the stiff pages together, gives me déjà vu of school days long gone. I get a flashback of fidgeting at my desk, while waiting impatiently for my new school books to be doled out--lovingly much of the time--from the adult hands carefully lifting them out of the box.
It was like Christmas in September in many ways for children such as myself who couldn’t wait to feel the new books put reverently into our childish hands with a warning to care for them. The first thing I would do, always, was bury my nose—literally—into the inside said new books, and inhale as deeply as my childish lungs permitted. I am hopelessly in love with the written word.
I tried to pass my love of books on to my children. I am sure they can still quote me like a mantra: “If you learn to read, and read well, you can build a rocket ship and fly it to the moon.” That was my home-grown way of telling them that with books anything is possible. It’s not an easy accomplishment to instill a love of reading when five of my six children were boys. Somehow I managed it, however. My daughter, the eldest sibling, read to them as often as they would allow. She, too, loved to read as a child, and proved to be a great blessing in such a large family.
It was my life-long love of reading that led to another great love of my life. Writing. Before I could even write, I told stories orally, to my siblings. I created a character that starred in those stories. Christopher Frogg. He was my first best friend. I have had many since that time. Some of them were even real.
Now that I have more time, I dream of one day picking up a brand new book, filling my nose with its bouquet, and when I close it again, it will be my name I read as the author who created the words inside. Just imagine!
