A love of words...The Beginning

     I really struggled with what could be my first post...after much thought, and giving you a glimpse of my "every year I fail" New Years Resolutions (which by the way had to be the 1st post, for the New Year) I decided it would be most important to start at the beginning...with what my Mom always called "My forever love of words and reading" ...So this is for you Mom, for always encouraging and loving me, and letting me always know how much I meant to you xoxoxo...When I watched "The Help" just recently, there is a statement Abilene says over and over that reminds me so vividly of how my Mom has always been able to make me feel...In "The Help" Abilene says to Mae Mobley "You is Smart, You is Kind, You is Important"  I would like to say "Thank You Mom" for always doing all you could to help me believe this about myself...I love you and miss you more than words could ever say ...because of you I know that I am Smart, I am Kind, and I am Important.


     I think I was 5 years old...having missed going to Kindergarten with my Best Friend Cheryl (I missed the cut-off by 29 days) due to having a Birthday on December 30th with the cut-off being December 1st (Yet another reason to growl at having an untimely Birthday) ...anyways...being 5 years old I remember reading everything in sight, from road signs to cereal boxes..."Mommy, what does this say?" I would ask her over and over, she did years later point out that I never asked until I had tried to say the word several times until it made sense to me, when I became frustrated and could not make sense of it, I would then ask.  I remember beaming and feeling like a genius when I got it right, because of course every time I did, my Mom would say, "Can you believe this? Lori you are teaching yourself how to read, you are so smart." And I was, beaming with pride, me...she was talking about me...I was SO smart. And she told anyone who would listen, her smart girl knew how to read before even starting school.  What I must say now is, I am certain after awhile I became exhausting, day after day, word after word, she probably just wanted me to close my mouth by then, but gracious as she always was, she would smile and marvel at me for wanting to know every word.


     My love of words, turned into a love of reading, and in 1st Grade, my favorite teacher in the world, also encouraged me, by now I had mastered all of the 1st grade books, and she had me reading to the class everyday at story time, can you imagine how excited this was for a 6 year old???  Not only did I read to the class at story time, I was put into the 2nd grade reading group to further encourage my love and dedication to reading. 


     And so it began...I went from reading to writing poems to writing short stories, to writing grand letters to anyone that would read them...I fantasized that one day I would be this world famous writer. The very first "adult" book I ever read was when I was 12 years old by Mary Higgins Clark and it was titled "Where are the Children" ...I have managed to read every single book she has written since, and have never missed one, to this day she is still a gifted writer, and I still get excited waiting for her to newest novel to arrive on the shelves.


     In High School, I remember holding my breath with each short story, each book report, and not letting it out until I saw the "A" in bold red marker, by one of my favorite English Teachers, who again, encouraged me to write as much as I could.  I still have my Final Thesis from 12th grade...I still am so proud of that paper and the bold "A+" it bears on the front of the page.  There is also a comment on another paper I wrote that same year that says, you are a gifted writer, and I always look forward to reading your stories.  I'm not sure I ever told him exactly how much that meant to me, I do hope he knows.  Last Year when my favorite 1st grade teacher retired, I was lucky enough to have been located (a childhood friend I was still in contact with now worked with her)  and I was invited to her Retirement Party.  I wanted her gift to be so special, as special to her as she had been to me, so I wrote her a beautiful letter, that was read to her on that special night in front of her friends and family.   I arrived there late due to another function, and missed the reading of my letter, however, I truly felt like a famous writer that night, many of her colleagues, with tears in their eyes, told me that they all hope they have touched at least one students life, the way she had touched mine, and how beautifully written it was, Me, I was just happy to have at last been able to share with this amazing Woman, just how much she had meant to me when I was only 6 years old, as I had lost touch with her 30+ years ago.


     I guess I wanted you to know, just how much this new Blog means to me, and just how excited I am that I have finally started this journey I began so long ago.  If I'm not singing my heart out at Karaoke, you can most likely find me turning the pages of my latest favorite book, or spending hours at the library or bookstore, just searching for the perfect "new" book to read...oddly enough, that is my favorite place to spend my time, and I can get lost in there for hours at a time, well, then of course there is The Beach ...but that story is for another time.


                                                                                         Much Love,
                                                                                               LB

First Grade Classroom ...I was The Valentine <3

Mommy and Me (One of the only pics I have with her in it, she hated pictures of herself)