Tis the Season

Tis the season for Christmas stories.   When I was younger my grandmother always read us Christmas stories.  My Aunt Jane's favorite was "Annie and Willie's Prayer".  This story always made my aunt cry.  In fact is you just say the name of it she gets misty eyed.  My grandmother's favorite was "The Legend of the Christmas Rose".   She loved that story and would always quote bits of it to us.  One year she got a book to read to us, it would draw the whole family in to listen as she read to us "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" by Barbara Robinson.   We loved it.

​In fact my grandmother loved reading and words.   She learned to love it from her father who would quote Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's - Evangeline - A Tale of Acadie.   She memorized the poem and would often quote it to me.  I too learned to love words and reading.  I thank my grandmother for that.    In the last couple of years I was reading a Kathy Reich's book where the case takes place at the edge of Acadia and she talks about Longfellow's Evangeline and quotes it too -" This is the forest primeval".   It delighted my heart to read it.

​There is great power in reading.  There are some out there who either cannot read well or do not read at all.  I find that a very devastating thought.   The beauty of words and the knowledge gained by them is a wondrous thing.    If you cannot read or read well, you struggle to understand Dr.'s orders or read your prescriptions and take them correctly, advance at work, help your child with homework, drive or get yourself around on the bus.   Reading is a very important skill and a powerful one that every one needs.

​So at this time of year, share what you love with those around you and do a little reading.  Share  some fun and delightful Holiday story with your family, a good friend or a message with a co-worker.   Share the spirit of the season and share the power of reading.  It truly is a wondrous thing.            
​                             Merry Everything and Happy Always  from Bridgerland Literacy