Read to Me

The sound of Brian's voice is one of my favorite things in the world.  I love to hear him say my name.  I love the way he thinks and describes things, so it stands to reason I love to hear him read.  My sister once said she would marry on the spot a man that gave her a dozen sharpened pencils, for me it is a man with a book, or an ipad in this case.  We are what our environment has made us and mine made me a reader.  My mom read more books than I can count.  My dad read us Robert the Rose Horse complete with the big ACHOOOS!!  more times than he would like to count.  Mam-ma Read us Lyle Lyle Crocodile and Alexander and the Wind up Mouse.  I bought these for my kids and was shocked at how long they were.  I can't believe she read these so many afternoons despite her to do list.  Dad says he remembers one of us girls asking Pap-pa to read as he was headed out the door to milk or plow tobacco and he turned around, set down his hat and read the book.  That is some serious love.  I don't have to remember that exact moment to know that a farmer really loves you when he pauses work in the middle of the day to read There's a Monster at the End of This Book.  Pap-pa had this funny chuckle of a laugh and I can still see and hear him as we moved through Grover's antics, as if each reading was a surprise.  He and my grandmother spent hours sitting in their chairs in the living room reading the assortment of periodicals and farm journals that piled up on the floor.  Last night Brian sat in his recliner, I sat rocking in my antique chair.  Brian scanned articles on the ipad about the economy, the national debt, the causes of inflation. He shared paragraphs and quotes he found interesting.  Interrupted my own thoughts with deep questions about one writer or another's opinion. I perused my old fashioned magazines and answered back with funny stories or a picture of grilled romaine and a fact about bananas.  We savored the presence of each other and the sound of our voices dripping with humor and love. (alright that's his mind, we all know mine drips with sarcasm) Two minds, that as we read ,get to think and enjoy together.  I will never tire of being read to.  It worked for my grandparents for 60 years.  I think we'll keep it up.