Books, a part of my life since the beginning

Books have been a part of my life as long as I can remember. My grandfather was a bookbinder and as a little girl, my favorite place was a spot on the table right next to the book press by the window in his workshop. I would sit there and watch him as he carefully restored the treasured heirlooms of his customers. I could tell he was very passionate about what he was doing.

Sometimes he had children's books to fix with loose pages or tattered covers. Then it was "storytime" if he wasn't too busy. Just thinking about those long ago times gives me the warm fuzzies. There's just something about books and the way they make you feel...and the stories that become part of your life.

Back then I went on adventures with Laura Ingalls from "Little House on the Prairie" or I climbed up a Swiss mountain with "Heidi" to visit her grandpa. When I was in the hospital when I was 13 "Treasure Island" helped me forget the pain. And later I gratuated to "For Whom The Bell Tows" one of my alltime favorites.

Books can take you to far away places you may never be able to go in real life. But you can read about them, dream about them and in your imagination actually be there. It works for me all the time.

Even now, when I get homesick I pick up a copy of one of my favorite German authors and then I'm right back home...at least for a couple of hours. I can feel the light brise of the North Sea. See the grass wave in the wind or hear the quiet splashing of the little mountain streams. Depending on what novels I'm reading of course ;o)

Have you ever noticed that when you read a book for the second time, or third, or fourth (as sometimes in my case), the exact same images play in your mind as when you read it for the very first time? Interesting, huh?