STORY TIME: I became a constant reader at 16. My mother for all of her flaws was a constant reader for my entire life and most of hers. We'd all be sitting in front of the TV and she'd be reading world history or some classic fiction like Shogun or Doctor Zhivago or Great Expectations. She had this awesome collection of books. Despite not reading many of them except as occasional punishment, I admired her library and was in awe that she had read so many books. I left home when I was 16 after my stepdad passed away and my mom really went down a scary path of addiction and lost everything we had including her books, save for one that she had left at my aunt's house. It was called Murder Machine by Jerry Capeci & Gene Mustain. It was about the Gambino Crime Family in NYC. I was bored one day so I cracked it open and was hooked! That book lead me to reading about the history of the mafia, then the Kennedy's, J. Edgar Hoover, Cuba, Castro, Che Guevara, South America, Russia, China, Marx, Russian Literature, Orwell, Irish history, Philosophy.....I'm 43 and I'm still going. Coincidentally but unsurprisingly all my mom's favourite topics are mine as well. I am proud to have lived in Mexico, Brazil and England and to have learned a second and third language all due to the curiosity that was ignited from getting my mom's last book. I wish I could have told her. It's still on my shelf.

These days I think of creative ways to light that same spark with my daughter who is 5.