Before I was a mom, I could spend hours in a bookstore. And I did. Perusing the shelves, the smell of fresh pages, ink not yet smudged. The giddy feeling of coming across a new book from your favorite author that you didn’t even know had been published.
Now, a jaunt to my favorite brick and mortar is a rarity. The sections of books stare at me forlornly. They whisper and commiserate and wonder where I’ve been. The books, the words, the familiar refrain.
I wish I had more time, I whisper fervently back. I miss you too. But this season of my life, this mama to a growing girl, can’t give you the time that you deserve. The disappearing hours with my nose in a book, coming up for air only when my eyes protested at the lack of blinking. And air. And sunshine.
Before I was a mom, you could find me lost among the characters of a story. Fighting sword fights, rescuing damsels in distress, solving that tough conundrum of a mystery.
You could find me wrestling alligators, having tea with the queen, and listening in rapt attention to Steinbeck and the tails of the Joad family.
That is where you would find me, before I became a mom.
Lost among nouns and verbs…and the beautiful symmetry that allows them to come alive on the page.
Linking up to:
My kids are now a college grad, college sophomore and high school senior. Somehow this year things have slowed to a point where I have been devouring all those books I have collected in stacks until I “had the time”. I wouldn’t give up any of those busy kid days for any book in the world, but I have really enjoyed my reading again.
Reading is the best, isn’t it? I can literally read all day, if given the chance 🙂
I miss books too. Jumping into a new story and hiding away in other worlds is something I miss. Can’t wait for the time when I can read again 🙂
I love getting lost in stories…especially when it’s raining outside! Curled up with a book and some hot cocoa!
it is short season when you get to the looking back side kaye—the road goes ever ever on
Mackenzie, do you ever get so into a book that you start talking differently? I’ve been so into books, I take on accents of places I’ve never visited! You can still curl up with a good book and get lost in it. If you’re like me, though, you’ll just have a ton of laundry to do when you come back to the real world.
-M
Yes, that happens to me all the time especially when I read British mysteries!
I still read, I just wish there was more time to do it and that I could spend hours in my beloved bookstore. I miss my bookstore!!
[…] personal to me. See, I love to read. Reading = breathing in my book. But a funny thing happens when you become a parent. All of your free time that you could spend lounging in your favorite chair with a cup of tea, and […]