I failed the first grade because I didn't learn to read. However, by the time I'd repeated it, on was on a path to runaway reading comprehension. I still had a stuttering problem – from acute shyness – until well into the seventh grade. Anyone listening to me read aloud in class thought I couldn't and plagued me with teasing over it.

But, I loved reading once I learned. I couldn't get enough of it. Libraries were a safe space. I adored being in libraries and bookstores – not flash new bookstores… I love those out of the way, unexpected kind of used bookstores.

I also delighted in writing just for my son. I wrote poems and lullabies for him.