Sundays with Sarah

She spends a lot of time curled up in a ball headphones in her ears being taken away to another world of her choosing. She can close her eyes and imagine the places these authors take her. In these moments she is anyone and everyone else. She is whole and well; she is not reminded of her broken pieces.

As her mama, I want to allow her the space to be transported to other worlds. I, myself, am an avid reader. I love the places the pages take me to as well. Like her, reading is one of my favorite things to do. I have loved reading my whole life.

But sometimes I worry about her reading too much. Being taken away from this life to others of our own choosing is a good thing, I believe anyway; it grows us and allows us to expand our minds to all of the possibilities offered outside of our own small lives. Too much of anything isn't good and over time, I have noticed that this is the only thing she seems to do at the house, and I know this is not good.

So I offer her an opportunity to head with me to the bookstore every Sunday morning. She agrees and I know she is excited when I go to wake her up in the morning and find that she has woken herself up and is getting ready in the bathroom. This does not happen - hardly ever. Mornings are hard for her and waking up takes time. This occasion must mean more to her than I know.

We sit at the tables provided and drink delicious fancy warm drinks. She with her laptop and me with my journal. Each writing away all of our hopes and dreams, our successes and discouragements. She loves this opportunity to get away from the house. When it is time to go she hesitates wanting to stay longer. This tells me that I have hit on something important to her.

We talk little in the bookstore. We are comfortable with one another and there are no need for words. Just being together is enough. Once our writing is done, we peruse the aisles filled with books. I read her all of the titles of authors I think she might like. When she is interested I read her the summary of the books the author has written. She files them away in her memory to access them when she gets home and pulls them up via audiobook.

We spend multiple hours at the bookstore and then head to Panera to grab a bowl of our favorite broccoli cheddar soup. We chit-chat about this and that; She tell me how much fun she has had and that she hopes we can do this again.

I smile as I know that Sundays with Sarah has officially begun.