Thursday, October 30, 2014

"Where the Red Fern Grows"

    My favorite story of all time has to be "Where the Red Fern Grows". I remember having my third grade teacher Mrs. Summers read this to us each day at school after lunch. I could not wait to see what happened the next day. This story has inspired and touched me over the years. When William's sisters and brother moved into my house seven years ago we sat down each night so that I could read them the book that had touched my life so much. We would read one chapter each night and I really knew that William's oldest sister would identify with the main character. She wanted a dog so much that I could tell it hurt.

    As we progressed through the book each night I could see that the kids were really waiting to see what happened next. They identified with the character and wished they could have been there watching him with his dogs. The best dogs ever. I remembered that the end was sad. I never knew as a kid why the end was sad. As I have grown older I have come to respect that the author showed us that ending to show us what real love is.

   I remember having William's brother sitting next to me the night we got to the end, and as we got to the ending, I started to cry. I remember him seeing me cry and seeming puzzled that a book could touch me that way. I also remember that night that an eight year old girl told me that she was glad I was going to be her step dad. William's mother that night told me that she was glad that he got to see me cry. She was glad that he had someone in his life that wasn't afraid to show how he was feeling. I am glad that I could give that to his brother. Now when I read that book I will have those memories to go along with one of the greatest stories of my life.

    I gave the copy of the book I had to William's oldest sister so this week I bought a new copy for him. I bought a hard copy of the book so that William and I can have that same adventure too. I hope he grows up loving this book and he hands it down to his children. Our adventure will begin right after we finish the book we are currently working on but I can hardly wait.

I hope to have many more adventures with you,

Your Loving Dad

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