I found out about FRIENDS in its eighth season on television. Before this, our family didn’t get any channels up on the hill. And we were far too busy to watch sitcoms because every night after work days, dinner clean up, and my brother loading the woodbox as Dad stoked the fire in the wood stove, one by one, my siblings and I would find our way downstairs to the living room with our books.
Lindsay would read Charles Dickens or Victor Hugo (she had entire collections from these authors) and Mom would either knit/crochet or read her favorite book of the week, sometimes a devotional, sometimes a biography. Nate had a history book on war or airplanes, and me? I was completely random in my book picks. One night it would be Jane Austen, the next night a history book, or my family’s favorite subject that I subjected them to, oceanography. I read books about the giant squid, completely interrupting Michelle who was trying to concentrate on her own book, but couldn’t stop laughing when I would read what I thought were wonderful snippets about the creature (genus: Architeuthis). We entertained each other while we read.
But it was those days of reading that taught us all to self-educate. Sure, college is vital. I’m a big fan. If you’re going to make it in this world, just go to school, okay? Don’t choose the hard path like we did. Hello? I’m 35 and still trying to finish my degree. But we learned that another really important piece of learning is reading.
Luckily, the bookshelves in the room I shared with Lindsay were built in and covered most of one wall. We stacked books in there until the shelves sagged. Not just one layer of books, multiple layers of books. I had to move the first layer to see what I had hidden behind it! This habit has stuck with me. I no longer enjoy built ins (perhaps someday soon we’ll decide on a design and actually start building library shelves!) in my house, but I still double-shelve books. My family is quite used to me talking about wanting to read a certain book, but having to find it first. It often takes a few days.
We may have been hiding from the world on a hill in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, but when we read, the world came to use alive, vibrant, and full of information. We learned to read on that hill. And it has served us well. And that’s a Good Thing.
{ 2 comments }
Oh girl, you are SO right! Books were my saving grace, my lifeline during those years. I may have been in “prison” but cracking open those books set me free. Love it.
Can’t wait until you get your built-ins, cuz I’m gonna come perusing. 
Come on over. I am trying to find a book this week and it’s hard going. I can’t remember where I put it. I think I need a Dewey decimal system!
Trish L.
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