A Very Good Place to Start

After some pondering on all the wonderful things I read as a child - and I read anything - I decided to start at the very beginning. It may not be my favorite book anymore, but it is a very important book in the history of me. It is the beginning of my passion for words.

You can ask me about it, Dr Suess's ABC. Any letter. Go ahead. Q? The Quick Queen of Quincy and her Quacking Quackeroo (a very fun hangman phrase. But now you know my secret.)

L? Lions licking lollipops.

B? Barber, baby, bubble and a bumblebee.

Y? A yawning yellow yak with Yollannnnnda on its back! (emphasis on Yolanda is, of course, mine. And that is exactly how Mom said it, too.)

Yep. I have it memorized. It's been some 19 years since I last had this book read to me (mom went on strike after a while) and I can still recite every word. She also had it memorized, which was fabulous for her. I'd drag it to her as early as I was allowed and I'd turn the pages when I knew the pages needed to be turned. Her eyes would stay closed, and I have suspicions she was actually still asleep, but she would recite the book dutifully. I had it memorized, too, but there was nothing like hearing Mommy say "Yolanda" to send giggles right up my spine. She probably was closer to awake by then, because she only had the zizzer-zazzer-zuzz, as you can plainly see, left to go.

I need a new copy for my own little one. Given the above tale, you might expect that mine is in absolute tatters. You'd be correct. The mice in the moonlight no longer exist, because I was apparently offended by the nine new neckties on the nose. I let the nightshirt survive. My x-ray and xylophone were scribbled on at some point. The binding is also a sad, sad sight. Yet, I know exactly where you can find this bit of over-read paper. My mother has it in a drawer, with a rock I gave her for mother's day when I was three and pictures I drew for her throughout elementary school. I think that means she finally forgave it for all those wake-up calls.