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Article rating : 0.00, 0 votes. Author : Nancy Buck
The greatest gift is the passion for reading. -Elizabeth Hardwick
Paul was on the pitchers mound early in the baseball game. He had a love/hate relationship with pitching. Being the pitcher meant he was completely involved in the game. He had moments when he felt in control, as if there was a magic line between the ball leaving his hand and the strike zone. But he also hated the pressure of throwing the ball into the strike zone and out of the batter’s reach time and time again.
David was behind the plate, catching. David was not ambivalent about catching. He flat out loved it! When Paul was on the mound David felt even more confident as the catcher. He knew the two of them couldn’t lose.
Book ends, I would think. Does the batter know he is standing between the bookends of Paul and David? Does the batter realize the potential power of the Buck boys, one on the mound the other behind the plate?
Because it was early in the game and early in the season neither team was feeling any great pressure. Neither side had scored. But there was still plenty of time left in the game for everything to change. There was the potential for lots of action, lots of hits, lots of strikes. There was the potential for my two sons becoming heroes or goats.
Two outs in the bottom of the third inning. Facing the next batter, Paul pitched two strikes and one ball. David caught each of Paul’s pitches, protesting the called balls. When Paul threw the next called ball and David threw it back something happened. Paul pulled up short. He limped off the mound, his face wincing in pain. The coach called time out and ran to Paul on the mound. He and the assistant coach supported and half carried Paul off of the field.
Two parents at a ball game where two sons were playing meant that one of us could take Paul to the hospital emergency room while the other of us stayed behind to watch David play his game. I was the one left behind. But both David and I were distracted by our concerns and worry. What had happened to Paul? David continued to catch as another team mate pitched. David made no errors and no great plays either. At bat, he never put his bat on a ball. The boys’ team lost the game, 3-0.
When David and I returned home following the game, Paul and his father had returned from the hospital. Paul was full of questions for David. Who pitched? How did the team do? How did David do? My questions were about Paul and his health. As far as the doctor could determine Paul had injured his knee but it was difficult to tell how badly. He had not broken any bones. The doctor recommended that we ice his knee until bedtime, give him over-the-counter pain relievers and take him to a specialist the following day. Paul was still in pain, but not quite as badly as when he first injured himself.
Finally Paul told me the story of his injury. In his attempt to catch the ball returned by David, he had twisted his leg and knee.
Luckily the next day I was able to get an appointment with an orthopedist. After examination by this specialist, Paul was determined to have sprained one of his knee ligaments. Luckily treatment for recovery involved nothing more drastic than his using crutches for a couple of weeks to keep weight off of his injured knee. He was also restricted from all physical activity.
I perceived the prescription for a sedentary life as nothing drastic. My son would not need surgery and would have no long lasting physical damage. This point of view was not shared by my Paul. He couldn’t play baseball, he couldn’t participate in Phys. Ed. Class in school, he couldn’t shoot hoops with his brother in our driveway, and he couldn’t play whiffle ball in our side yard with his friends. What was he going to do for two weeks? Although he was reassured by the doctor that probably all normal physical activity could be resumed in only fourteen
days, Paul felt as if this was a life time!
What Paul discovered during his time of physical restriction was the magic and gift of reading books! It started with a small book that we had lying around our home. Out of desperation and boredom Paul picked up Hatchet by Gary Paulson. Once he read the first chapter of this riveting book he was hooked. Next he read another book he found in the family library; Dog Song by the same author. Then he read another book and another book and another book. Finally, before I knew it, Paul had finished a book of mine from graduate school; The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Completing this book coincided with the end of his bed rest for recovery.
As a person who has always loved reading and loved books I was more excited by my son’s copious reading than any baseball or basketball game ever played. Never a person to hide my enthusiasm from the world, I would ask Paul his opinion about the plot in one book, or the characters in another book. Paul barely acknowledged my questions. He let me know that although he was reading, this was not his first choice. He would much rather have been outside swinging a bat, dribbling a ball or chasing down a whiffle ball playing homerun derby. Reading was only something he was doing by default. There would be no conversing about books. He was only reading because there was nothing else that he could do!
Several years later David came home from high school telling me he needed to go to the library to borrow Shipping News for his high school English class. I told him that I had a copy of the book in my bedroom bookshelf. Happy to avoid a trip to the library he found the book without my help.
Much to my great surprise and delight, two weeks later David told me how impressed he was by the author’s language and imagery. “What?” I asked him. He repeated what he had said giving me specific examples from the book.
My heart stopped then skipped a beat! David was a reader! David was a discriminating reader. David was a reader who wanted to talk with me about a book he was reading. Now was the time for my dance of joy!
However, I was not going to make the same mistake with David that I had with Paul. I was willing to discuss our opinions about a book we had both read. But I was not going to become too enthusiastic, thus killing the tenuous book connection between us. Was the connection my son felt to reading any more solid?
While David and I were in the midst of this initial conversation, Paul entered the room. He chimed in with his opinion about this same book.
I could hardly believe my ears and good fortune. My boys were readers! My boys were reading and talking with me and each other about a fine book of fiction. No one uttered a peep about reading being a poor substitute for sports. We were all enjoying the gift of books and each other. Oh what great joy!
These many years later I continue to be delighted that both of my sons enjoy reading. Sometimes we exchange titles with one another of books we have each enjoyed. Other times we exchange the actual books. It is not uncommon for books to be presents given and received during Christmas and birthdays.
A book is a present we can open again and again and share our passion for reading. And with gratitude and delight I share my passion for reading with my sons. What a gift!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Nancy S. Buck, Ph.D. established Peaceful Parenting, Inc. in 2000 to bring her knowledge and experience with effective parenting to the greatest number of parents and other caretakers of children. She developed the Peaceful Parenting® program from her 25 years of experience as a developmental psychologist, trainer and educator with The William Glasser Institute and as the mother of twin sons. Her genuine, warm and authentic teaching style is clear and concise, helping learners move from the theoretical to real life situations.
http://www.peacefulparenting.com
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