The power of story ... the power of memory ...

Today over at The Laughing Pastor, Blake posted an eloquent musing on the power of story ... in the midst of his posting he commented on the impact the story Good Night Moon had and still has over him ... a deep connection from childhood ...

As I read his posting and thought about the power of story for humanity and for myself, I thought of my favourite book as a child ...

The Monster at the End of This Book, starring lovable, furry old Grover was my ALL time favourite book as a young child ... when I was a toddler I had EVERYONE read it to me ... and even into my teens I would sit down and read it (and I'll admit to sometimes doing it in Grover's voice) for myself ... and as my now grown cousins came on the scene, I would read it to them ...

I SIMPLY LOVED THAT SILLY BOOK ...

and years later when I became an adult one of the first childrens' books that made its way into Noahkila's hands was The Monster at the End of This Book !!!

What came to mind today though was not my personal enjoyment of the book, but rather and afternoon in Bella Coola when my youngest maternal uncle came for a visit ...

"Would you like me to read you a story?" asked Uncle B.

Noahkila LOVED having stories read to him, so he eagerly agreed and brought Uncle B a copy of "The Monster at the End of This Book."

Uncle B looked at it and said, "Uh uh," and tossed the book on the couch across the room, "I read that to you DAD enough for you and HIM !!!"

We laughed, and Noahkila happily had Uncle B read him a selection of other stories ... later in the afternoon, Uncle B relented though and DID read the Grover story to his wee grand-nephew !!

But there is and can be no disputing the truth of his statement - he did read it to me enough for Myself, Noahkila, and likely Noahkila's children and grandchildren ... but rest assured when Noahkila becomes a father, one of the first gifts for my wee grandchild will be a copy of "The Monster at the End of This Book" and Grandpa will happily read it to him or her, complete with the required voices ...

Such is the power of stories ... thanks Blake for the reminder ...