A Tower of Knowledge

When I was knee high to a grasshopper, my dear mammy bought a set of encyclopedias for my brother and me. I was eight years old at the time, and I looked up every single thing I did not know. Considering I was only a second grader, that meant that I spent a lot of time with my head in an encyclopedia.

As a consequence of realizing how little I knew, I read very little fiction until I was about eighteen. I decided that I wasn't going to read stories that weren't real until I knew enough about things that were real. Granted, I read plenty of literature in school, but I did not read much fiction at home. At home I read biography, history, and whatever else I thought I needed to know.

While at my mammy's house last weekend, I was pleased to see those old encyclopedias in the guest bedroom. I have fond memories of that little tower of books. Much of the knowledge I have accumulated over the years came from those volumes. And yes, I am indeed a fortunate man to have a mother who understood the thirst her young son had for knowledge.