Chronically ill Escape? It's Just Pages Away.

Growing up I can remember exactly my feelings toward reading. There is one particular memory which describes it very well. My parents took the 'reading with your child' very seriously. I liked hearing them read. However I did not like having to read for myself. One night they whipped out this story on an elephant doing some random thing or another. I declared I did not want to read it, wanted nothing to do with reading it, and refused to.

Fresh out of the ER to my fave summer reading spot!

Perhaps it was the 'personal pan pizza' bribery to read* or long flights to Europe/painfully long hours spent traveling the U.S. via car with nothing to do which changed my mind on reading. I grew to love it and devoured everything in sight. On one trip 'out west,' we traveled via R.V. I ran out of reading material and knew precisely where my older sister kept hers. So I read my way through high school literature at around age 8. For the record, books like 'Flowers in the Attic' do not count in such a category and can be a bit traumatizing to an 8-year old. 

*For those unfamiliar with the BookIt, I think it was known as BookIt, I will explain: Pizza Hut did a special deal. If you read a certain amount of books (or was it pages?) you would eventually be able to 'earn' a personal pan pizza. I think this is how it went. Such a long time has passed  since I was able to eat Pizza Hut pizza much less earn a personal pan one I am fuzzy on the details.

I still love to read but I have joined the 'new age' of reading. I am an e-reader addict. In the early days of e-readers I was one of those who would never give up the hard copy way. Until I discovered +Barnes & Noble  had unleashed Nook Color on the world. My first thought? Now I can read scientific journals off PubMed in color! Yessss. Sealed the deal all the way. And don't compare my Nook to a Kindle. +Barnes & Noble's focus is on books. Amazon's focus is on everything and anything. I love Amazon but when it comes to my ereader I want the company who does reading best.

What a long endless tangent! If you are still here then let me share the important stuff. Nothing acts an escape from having a chronic illness as reading a good book. When I find a good book I get lost in its pages. Food? Not necessary. Sleep? What's that? If it's a truly wonderful tale then I won't be putting it down until I've devoured the very last word.

Reading is a wonderful escape. One which few appreciate. I know because at my lowest health point I could not read. My dizziness, vertigo, and double vision made it nigh impossible. I realized very quickly how reading is truly an escape. Now I make use of it on those days where I would love to be anywhere but here. 

For those looking to find an escape. Try picking up a book. One which interests you and find the chronically ill escape I do. If books scare you then simply look up something simple and try reading for once. I think you just may surprise yourself...

****Reading over this I sound like an advertisement for a chronically ill type of Reading Rainbow. For the record I did not watch much Reading Rainbow as a child. Nope. My little sister and I were die hard fans of WishBone. What do you expect when you don't have cable?