By Richard Mabey Jr.

In early November of 2019, when my mom was in the hospital, the day before her heart surgery, she told me that from the time I was about three months old that every evening she would read a bedtime story to me. There was a series of children’s books that were very popular back in the early 1950’s called the Little Golden Books. Each one was priced at a quarter. They had hard covers, were about 32 pages in length, and were filled with colorful pictures that reflected the little story within its covers.

Mom told me that just about every day Dad came home from work, he would bring a new Little Golden Book for Mom to read to me that evening. They were sold at the newspaper store that Dad would stop off at after work, to buy the afternoon paper.

I think that my love for storytelling, sprang forth from having a loving mother who read a story to me, each and every night. Mom told me, just about two months before she went Home to be with the Lord, that she read a story to me every evening from the time I was about three months old till I began the first grade.

I know that this is such a short column. However, I believe that it contains an important and vital message. It’s all so very important that a child’s imagination be nurtured and encouraged to grow. Reading stories to a child, particularly before they close their eyes and drift off to dream land, is an important key to a child’s intellectual growth and development.

In the past two years, I’ve often asked myself if I would still be a writer, a storyteller, if Mom did not take the time to read a story to me each and every night, before I fell asleep. I know, in my heart of hearts, that my dear mother gave me a most precious and valuable gift, in reading a story to me every night.

If there be a child in your life, please do consider faithfully reading a story to the precious one before he or she falls asleep at evening time. It is truly time well invested.

Richard Mabey Jr. is a freelance writer. He can be reached at richardmabeyjr@hotmail.com. Please put on the subject line: I Remember Mom.