Following My Foot Steps

As a little girl, I fell in love with reading and story-telling at a very early age. In Kindergarten, I read my first book, all by myself. I still remember it. It was called "The Little Black Puppy". I remember reading it out loud and my mother was blown away. I could read!! This was a big deal back in the 70's. Kindergarten was so much different back then. It was a half day and all we learned where shapes and colors. 123's and ABC's. Prayers and God Bless America. And that was it.

So, my reading on my own was huge. And I loved it. And it stuck. Over the next couple of years, I moved onto chapter books. Most of the books were written by Judy Blume or Beverly Cleary. My days were filled with the adventures of Fudge...or Ramona. They made me laugh. They made me imagine. They made me want to be a writer. Now, I take such joy and pride as my own children are discovering and enjoying books. My son is obsessed with Diary of a Wimpy Kid books. And my daughter? She just finished Beezus and Ramona on Tuesday. And she finished Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing yesterday. All of the sudden she is constantly with her nose in a book. CONSTANTLY. And....I....LOVE...it!!!

Tuesday evening, she told me she finished Beezus and Ramona. She told me about the different scenes that made her laugh and I reminisced, remembering reading those same scenes when I was her age. Suddenly, I was eight years old again. The memories of the book all came back to me. It created a connection...a bond with my daughter. And....I....LOVED....it!!!!

Then, she asked if we could please rent the movie Ramona And Beezus. Please. Please. Please. Pretty Please with Sugar On Top!!! Normally, we don't rent from On Demand. We wait for it to be on a movie channel or we put it on the top of the Netflix List. But this time, I gave in. She finished the book in less than two days and was so giddy about it. I was proud of her. And we were bonding over a classic, timeless book. So, yes. Our cable bill will be six dollars higher this month. And it will be so worth it.

The movie combined all the Ramona and Beezus books by Beverly Cleary. And once again...the memories came flooding back. Picky Picky the cat. Ramona and her father drawing the longest picture in the world. The hole in the house. Howie and Willa Jean. Hobart and Aunt Bea. And on and on and on. It was as if I was revisiting family members that I had not seen in almost twenty years. The movie actually made me cry.

Days of reading childish stories were long forgotten over the years of growing up and becoming an adult. I remembered why I wanted to be a writer in the first place. How I wanted to be the next Beverly Cleary. The next Judy Blume.

When the movie was over, I wiped my tears and looked over at my daughter. Both of us were snuggled on the couch, under a Jedi Blanket. We smiled, both of us loving the movie...another thing that bonded us together.

And then she announced that when she grows up she wants to be a writer and a publisher. That made my heart sing. She is so much like me.

And I began to make a mental list of other books I would love for her to read. Other books I grew up with.
The Henry and Ribsy series
The rest of the Ramona Books
All the Fudge books
The Little House books
Blubber
and so on
and so on
and so on.