A love for books

My Papa always said that the best thing you can do for yourself is learn to read. He instilled in me a love of many things: cooking, family and of course, books. Papa had bookcases overflowing with books, and boxes tucked away in the basement packed full. He collected, and read every single one, books of all genres.

Papa passed away this March and yesterday I spent a rainy afternoon going through his book collection. My Granny was very generous to let me take as many as I wanted. I found books that Nick and I had given him for Christmas presents, cookbooks that were almost falling apart, and books on his favorite president, Harry S. Truman. Granny also gave me several old "readers", textbooks dating back to the early 1900's! She said that he wanted his "teacher granddaughter" to have them. I also have books that he had given me for Christmas presents as a child.

I was the child who would rather curl up and read a good book then play outside. I would save my allowance for a trip to Barnes and Noble on the plaza, instead of the toy store. I remember Papa reading aloud to me and taking my cousins and I to the library when we would spend a week at my grandparent's house during the summer. I love Papa and I will miss him very much, but I have many memories of him, and now I have a small part of his book collection.

My love of books is still in demand today. I love to read and get caught up in a good story. I love to encourage my students to read as well. I wish that there was more time during the school day to read aloud or let my students read independently. That is a goal of mine for the next fall. During college and the first few years of teaching, reading took a back seat to to other pursuits and time restraints. Last year I read my first "adult" book for pleasure in over three years. Since then I have rearranged schedule time in my evenings and on weekends to make reading more of a priority. I have already made my book list for this summer, 25 plus and counting! (It may take me more than the summer to read all of those.)

One day I look forward to passing on my love for books and reading to my children and telling them of the legacy, and the impression Papa left.