My mother instilled my love of reading.  For as far back as I can remember, she read to me and I loved it.  I loved reading so much that I remember going into my closet with a flashlight just so I could finish a book that I just couldn't put down.  That happened on many, many occasions. 

I remember going through various phases of book reading.  I fell in love with the Wizard of Oz series, the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew and so many others.  One time all I could do was to devour James Michner novels such as Hawaii and Centennial which were my favorite and they were huge.  Another time, I was caught up in victorian and gothic romances by authors such as Daphne Du Maurier, Victoria Holt, Mary Stewart and Phyllis A. Whitney.  Now I enjoy Nicholas Sparks when I take the chance to read.


Thanks Mom for that gift.

The Velveteen Rabbit - My favorite children's story

I don't remember the first time I read "The Velveteen Rabbit". I only know that I fell in love with it when I did. In case you've never read it or have forgotten what it's about...

The story starts when a boy got too many Christmas presents. Out of all of them one was special...it was a velveteen rabbit. The boy loved the rabbit (for about a day) and then the rabbit was forgotten in the boy's huge closet where he became very lonely.

Soon after, the boy lost his favorite stuffed animal and he would not got to sleep without it. His nanny, who wanted to make him feel better, grabbed the rabbit out of the closet and said, "This one will have to do." Then the boy and the rabbit became inseparable.

When the boy was gone from his room, the rabbit made a friend, a rocking horse. The horse told the rabbit that he was real and the rabbit asked how he could become real. The horse replied, "Lots of love".


One day the boy told his nanny that the rabbit was real. The rabbit was so excited he just couldn't wait to tell the horse! Soon after, the boy got really sick and was for a very long time. After he recovered, the doctor told the boy's family to burn everything that was in the nursery when he was sick, including the velveteen rabbit. The boy was moved to a different room and everything in his old room was bogged up, taken behind the tool shed and left until time was found to burn them. That night, the rabbit fell out of the bag and a fairy came down and turned him into a real rabbit.

The moral of the story is that if you believe in something and you never stop believing, maybe it will come true.


It's a wonderful story about love and I hope that one day my grandchildren will love it also.
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The rabbit shown above is the one given to me by my Great Granddaddy Orvin Cattell. That's him pictured on the left holding me. I remember nothing at all about him. In fact, I'd always thought that the rabbit had been given to me by my Grandfather Cattell before he passed away from cancer. I only found out I had the wrong misconception just a few years ago. Mom told me that my great grandfather had given her the money to buy Susan and me a rabbit for Easter that he later gave to us.