When Owen asked me the question, I immediately thought of the old saying, “What goes around, comes around.” Coming around has taken a little while, but I think it was inevitable.
From the time that they were “knee-high to a grasshopper,” I have found many excuses to read books to Owen and his brother Benjamin. They know what they are getting from me for birthdays and Christmas or just because I happened to be in a bookstore and something struck my eye. Benjamin questioned me about my habit once, “Grandma, why do you always give us books?” When I asked if anyone else did that, he conceded that it was only me.
Now, I don’t want to take all the credit here. They have had parents who read to them. Mama reads regularly at bedtime, and Dada has been known to get them up with another book in the morning. They’ve also had teachers who have introduced them to good books. In fact, it was a classroom read that prompted Owen’s question. He was bringing home his copy when we picked him up from school. He held it out to me and asked, “Grandma, have you read this one? It’s a really good book.”
Rita Williams-Garcia is a favorite author, but I had never read Clayton Byrd Goes Underground. So, what has gone around has come around. Owen loaned me his book with some satisfaction that he was sharing a book I had not read. He was even happier when I told him later that I agreed with his judgment that it was a very good book.
Now, I hope that what goes around keeps coming around and around and around.