Remembering Why I Write and Share Stories

While watching several videos the other day they all ended up having a similar theme. They were about books, reading, and what inspired people to write or follow their passions. Watching these caused me to think back to what started my love of reading and writing. I am not honestly sure of the exact point where this happened. I have photos of me asleep with a book in my hand and I once had a paper folder full of handwritten pages. That folder held the pages of a never-ending story about a young boy on an adventure.  I can, however, tell you about one of the books that started it all.

Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls. I read that book time and time again wearing down the spine and pages. If you have not read the book it is a telling of a man’s childhood. He tells of earning money to buy two hunting dog puppies, raising them, and teaching them how to hunt. There is more to the story but to tell that might spoil the story, so I will stop there.

The story is told in such a way that it paints a picture so vibrant that you feel like you are standing right next to the main character, especially for an imaginative young child.  Any young boy who grew up in rural America had the dream of having their own dog. I think that connection and the fact that they spent most of their time outdoors as did I, created a common bond between myself and the main character. We lived in very different times but the simplicity of youth made it easy to ignore the decades in between.

I lost count many years ago of how many times I read the book but it was enough to wear down the spine. I remember reading this book in one of my elementary English and reading classes. That might have been fourth grade, but it is hard to remember that far back these days.

We read out of a hardback book in class. I found the same hardback book we read years later and had to purchase it. Since then those books have moved many times but always end up on a bookshelf next to each other. I always seem to find room on the shelf for those two books while others get put into a box and not stored on a shelf.

I sincerely thank the many teachers I had growing up that shared their love of reading which in turn fostered my love for reading and telling stories.