Friday, July 23, 2010

Dreaming...

This is my favorite children's book...
This book is the one good thing I had as a child. I loved it! I would carry it around with me all the time and cried for days when I lost it. Over the years, I've collected lots of children's books. I've always loved them because they make me happy. And for those of you who know me, I like being happy! I always wanted to be the parent that had the best collection of storybooks to read to their children. I wanted to be the mother that would read to her children until they fell asleep and then kept reading to myself just so I could hear them breathing. I spent years dreaming of the perfect little family, living in the perfect little home, in the perfect neighborhood, with a massive collection of books. At one time, I counted 13 copies of this very book in my collection. I had started purchasing them when I was 20. This particular book is one I still can't pass up when I come across it at the bookstore. I'll always buy it, and I will always give it away. Why?
Richard and I weren't blessed with a family to call our own. So over the years, I've been slowly giving away my collection of storybooks to expectant mothers in our neighborhood. I give them away hoping that they will love them as much as I do. Sometimes, I wonder if they would love them more if they knew they were coming from my personal collection of unfulfilled dreams. I know the children love them...and it pleases me to no end when I see them with a book I've given them to read.