I just love read-alouds. I've read to my children since they were in the womb. I've even been known to tape record myself reading aloud to my husband so that he could "listen" to a book I knew he would never read. And if you think that my children growing up would stop storytime, you would be wrong. They still indulge me. Especially in the summertime. We find a few minutes almost every day to gather and share a book. (No small feat considering that everyone has something to do...and all those doings overlap or leapfrog each other so that getting all 4 of us in the same room at the same time is a small miracle). Everyone gets comfy and the only rule is that there are no rules. Text if you want...interrupt with a question or comment...request a "pause" to stick a pizza in the oven. Every summer I think "this will be the year they lose interest". But at the end of each chapter, someone asks for just one more. And if we skip a day, someone asks "Aren't we reading today?"
This summer we are reading "The Graveyard Book" by Neil Gaiman. We love him because he is wildly imaginative and creepy enough to send a chill down our spines between chuckles. Anyway, the boy in this story is being raised by ghosts in a graveyard, and has adventures and learns lessons just like any child would. And today he went through the Ghoul Gate. He was feeling unloved and put-upon by the ghostly adults in his life and went to a deserted corner of the graveyard to sulk. Three ghouls came along and convinced him to go with them. They made it sound so good that he said yes.
And I stopped to inquire of my listeners thoughts on the matter. Good decision or bad?
Hillary paused in her texting and said, "Bad"
Parker immediately said, "Good!"
Good? Why?
"Because he'll have an adventure. And by the time he gets home, he will have learned to appreciate his life and all the people in it."
Pretty deep for a 13 year old. And of course he was right. But how many of us can see at the beginning of a hard and scary thing that we will be better off when it's over? Even the bible tells us to give thanks in everything and rejoice when we are persecuted. Easy to read...hard to do. But in the end, isn't that what life is about?
Having an adventure.
And appreciating it.
2 comments:
Loved it-sometimes I feel like Chance has stepped through the "Ghoul Gate" I never wanted one of my sons to be in the military-but I know I am no better than any other mom in the USA-God gives me peace and wisdom to pray. Chance will have the adventure of his life while serving his country and I am sure he will come out of the Navy with far more wisdom than when he went in.
One day dad was lamenting about the 'what-ifs' and dangers of Austin flying. I told him, what if he lives to be 95, and tells his great-grandchildren about his adventures in the skies. Many people in the world who have lived and told about their adventures, have brought us all a better understanding of the world, without us having to live the danger. Parker is right. MIMI
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