The Adoption is Finalized, finally, and another Book Meme

Our adoption finalization was Monday. The judge signed everything. It's 100 percent official and finished--these three lovely girls are ours, MINE--forever. What I didn't really understand until this week, though, was that this very formal, legal change matters to my HEART! Who knew? To borrow (and twist) a metaphor from a favorite book character of mine named Everett, it's like my heart is the egg, the egg in those beautiful and very scientific sex-ed videos, and the finalization of this adoption is like the sperm that penetrated the egg. So after the one lucky sperm gets through the membrane of that egg, the cell wall of the egg is transformed. It is hardened and no more sperms can get through. So, for me, the opposite has occurred--my heart hasn't been hardened, but instead this single event has peeled my hard, protective shell away. The possibility that they might one day be taken away has been eliminated---hence a softening, an opening, and an exploding of the walls surrounding my sensitive middle. This love for my daughters, that I didn't even realize could grow deeper and stronger, has, in fact grown deeper and stronger---and, yes, also, harder, more solid, more bullet proof and more permanent. But also more expansive and more encompassing. Who knew that a silly piece of paper could spark such wierd, but real changes in my most breakable of organs??? Well enough, already, of this romantic blah blah blah. But wow, really--Wow!

And now a book meme:
1. How old were you when you learned to read and who taught you?

This is a favorite story of mine. One of those stories that shapes my identity. My mom taught me to read, on her lap, reading out loud to me, well before kindergarten. I don't have any memories of this process. I have been a reader as far back as I am able to remember.

2. Did you own any books as a child? If so, what's the first one that you remember owning? If not, do you recall any of the first titles that you borrowed from the library?

There were plenty of books that I owned, or that we owned, when I was a child. I remember the Childcraft encyclopedia books, I remember The Wheedle on the Needle and other books in the Serendipity series. I remember Lisa's Dr. Suess book called All About Me. I remember these dungeon and dragon role playing books that I adored in about fifth grade. I have many savory book memories.

3. Were you a re-reader as a child? If so, which book did you re-read most often?

No, I wasn't a big re-reader as a child, and I'm not as an adult. There are a few books that I've enjoyed re-reading. I've read The Brothers K about six times in the last 12 years. But, in general, I consume, comprehend, and thoroughly digest books the first time through.

4. What'’s the first adult book that captured your interest and how old were you when you read it?

The Hobbit. I'm not sure I really understood the whole book but I read most of it when I was in fourth grade and loved the parts that I was able to understand.


5. Are there children's books that you passed by as a child that you have learned to love as an adult? Which ones?

Nope--I'm a stubborn reader. I didn't like Island of the Blue Dolphins as a child and I've never given it a second chance.

6. What's the first book that you bought with your own money?

I loved the Nancy Drew series and remember spending many hard-earned babysitting dollars on those books when I was 11 or so. Books have always been one of my most costly addictions. I have made a shift, in the last year or so, though, away from excessive book buying, toward maximizing all the multiple potentials of the city libraries. I still buy too many books, primarily for my classroom, but my book addiction has been often met, recently, by library book browsing, reserving, and reading.