Confessions of a Grandma

I have a favorite photograph of my mother and me when I was about two. We are sitting together and looking at a newspaper, the sheer delight showing on both our faces. I consider myself very fortunate indeed to have had a mother who read to me on a regular basis. In the early 1950's there was a multi-volume series of books from Childcraft and my maternal grandfather, wanting to foster all things intellectual in his grandchildren, presented us with the complete set. Really, it was quite the comprehensive education--classical mythology, poetry, fairy tales, fables, all manner of wonderful literature, sciences, art, even math (largely untouched volume out of the set). My love of literature came at an early age. One might think that this gave me a tremendous advantage in learning to read and write, even speak. It did not, at least not right away. I was painfully shy and tongue-tied, so unsure of myself as to be immobilized sometimes in front of strangers. That made school difficult as ...