the joy of reading

I'm back home now after spending a few days in Georgia with my mom following her heart attack last week. Thanks for the emails and messages from those of you who saw my posts on Facebook. (My mom's doing well, all things considered, and is back at home.)

Over the last few days, I've come to appreciate and enjoy my love of reading more than ever before. Reading has always been a comfort, a hobby, a routine, a passion, a part of my every-day life, but recently I realized how thankful I am for the benefits of reading. I read while sitting next to my mother's hospital bed, passing the time until she woke up. When my mom was awake, I'd entertain her by reading her the latest Hollywood gossip from some trashy tabloid magazines. When I'd exhausted all of those, I looked up her favorite actors online and read her their biographies. When hospital visiting hours were over, I walked the aisles of the local bookstore to cheer myself up. When I couldn't sleep late at night, I'd crack open one of my recent bookstore purchases.

The past few days would have been far more miserable, lonely and boring if I didn't love to read as much as I do. Thanks, Mom, for passing your love of reading on to me.