Read it and weep…

"Reading is everything. Reading makes me feel like I've accomplished something, learned something, become a better person. Reading makes me smarter. Reading gives me something to talk about later on. Reading is the unbelievably healthy way my attention deficit disorder medicates itself. Reading is grist. Reading is bliss."
— Nora Ephron

Amen, Ms. Ephron! And thank you, E.B. White. My addiction began almost 47 years ago while bawling my little pony-tailed head off at the demise of a spider. Yes, I’m a reader—and proud of it! In fact I get a little agitated when I’m not in the middle of a good page-turner. Oh, how I wish I felt the same way about jogging—I’d be able to eat Mocha Almond Concretes to my heart’s content! Back in my teaching days it always amazed me when the kids would ask how many pages they had to read for homework. “Why would you want to stop reading?” I’d ask. “Would you watch a great movie like that? Ten minutes today, then ten tomorrow, then ten the next day…?” But, alas, in response to questioning saucer-eyes, I’d give a chapter assignment. Last night I finished a fabulous novel by one of my favorite authors, “Every Last One” by Anna Quindlen. I’m not going to give a review here, but it’s a plot that hits unimaginably hard at a mother’s heart. Next up? “South of Broad” by Pat Conroy (Charleston, here I come!).

Forgive me Waylon and Willie, but I’m going to take a little liberty with that ol’ country hit of yours and urge, “Mamas, make sure your babies grow up to be readers.”