ADDICTION

ADDICTION


As anyone who knows me (even a little bit) can tell you, I am addicted. It happened gradually and has been present in my life for at least the last twenty-five years. Some days are better than others. Often, I can go days and nights without it but am not as happy as when I am indulging.

Of course, I'm talking about my love of books. It all started with comic books when I was a wee lass. I then graduated to my school books which I spent all summer anticipating. I loved the hardness of them, the colored pictures, the small fine print.

As I matured, I relished magazines about movie stars and singers, always dreaming of looking like them some day. Or fantasizing about a certain man who was famous, rich and totally unattainable. Elvis Presly was my ultimate fantasy!

I also fell in love with any man wearing a uniform and even today, am thrilled to see men in their Military, police and fireman's uniforms.

The first long, hard covered books I read were 'Heidi' and 'Lassie'. I knew then that I was hooked on books; the addiction would last a lifetime. I usually read each book just once but have re-read 'The Bridges of Madison County', 'Dr. Zhivago', 'Anne of Green Gables' and 'Ol Yeller' many times. 'Gone With the Wind' is almost memorized in my mind!

I don't recall how I began to love to read only non-fiction books. While others were pressing their noses in a romance novel, I was reading a true-crime book. It was embarressing to admit, but I liked reading about how a family formed and fell apart in a matter of months or years. To murder one's own spouse or lover and the resulting trial and conviction.........

These days I am reading primarily biographies and autobiographies, the most recent one being 'Marilyn Monroe'. What a beautiful and charismatic woman! A 'Willie Nelson' book is on my desk and awaits me as a dog awaits a bone. Like most things in life, the anticipation is half the enjoyment.

I've tried reading those self-help books but can't seem to even get through the first chapter. I believe that people who do not visit their local Libraries are missing out on the best of experiences. All that knowledge and entertainment for free! I wear glasses to read so am thrilled to find 'large print' books. I don't use audio books as I'd rather read them myself and when I'm driving my car, I always listen to music, my other love.

When life seems to be passing me by or I am disappointed in what it has to offer, I can always depend on my books and music to keep me company. I often fall asleep with a book in my arms; thoughts and dreams all night long of the people inside it. I know it will be waiting for me the next day; it never disappoints.

Winter time is the ultimate reading time for me. As I finished 'Edith's Story' (a true story of a young Jewish girl who, like Anne Frank, kept a diary during her hiding in World War 2), I was shocked and happy to realize she survived to publish it. It opened my eyes to what truly happened in my own lifetime and must NEVER happen again.

On this strange last day of February, Leap Year day, if I didn't have a book awaiting me at the end of my journey, life would not be as sweet. I read the newspaper online and my Bible after I wake up. But knowing a book is waiting there is like a favourite dessert after an expensive meal. No more, no less. And I thank God for my sight and my brain. Without them, I'd never have met Anne and Heidi and Lassie and the Bobbsey Twins and Marilyn...........