Mommy, will you read me a story?

Every summer, between the music boxes and the pitchers, Great Grandma would sit in her old, yellow armchair and read to us. All her great-grandchildren gathered around to listen. Back when Great Grandma wasn't too old, and we weren't too big, one lucky kid got to sit on her lap while she read.

I don't think Great Grandma had more than two, maybe three children's books. I'm still a bit in awe that, year after year, we never tired of hearing the same stories over and over again. In fact, we'd always ask her to read to us.

I only have vague memories of one of the books--a story about a little Chinese boy. The other book, I don't think I could ever forget that one. Flicka, Ricka, Dicka and the New Dotted Dresses. I don't know why this one sticks out most in my mind; maybe it's because I can still hear Great Grandma's voice in my head saying those names.

Great Grandma gave the book to Mary. It's now on her bookshelf, weathered and beaten and showing its age of over 50 years... otherwise known as well-loved.

Mom read to us, too. It was probably every day, but I can't be certain. We had gads of books as children, and we'd do all we could to get our hands on more (something that still hasn’t stopped being a habit). I remember The Grouchy Ladybug, The Mitten, Miss Nelson is Missing, The Polar Express, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel... Cordoroy was probably a bit worn out after all the times we'd read him. I could go on, but there are just too many. It's really great to go to the book store and see that some of these titles are still out there. Even with all these memories, they still aren't the ones I treasure the most.

It got better when we got older.

Every night before bedtime (well, at least I think it was every night), my sisters and I would all cuddle around Mom while she read us a few chapters from the current book. We could all read on our own, but there was just something about having Mom read A Cricket in Times Square to us. It was like having a favorite television show and looking forward to a new episode every week, only better. We only had to wait one night before we found out what was going to happen to Karana next in Island of the Blue Dolphins, or what adventure James and the Giant Peach would encounter next.

It's no wonder that Mom and Dad had trouble dragging us out of the bookstore without having bought us a book. ;)