_Please bring me this week's! -I would ask as if I were vicious:

No. Every time I bring you a comic book, you start reading and don't want to play with us, said one of my friends. Then I had to swear, by the most sacred thing, that I was going to play and I was going to read only when they left.

There were also my grandmother and my father, the best storytellers a child could ever have. Let's remember that before writing, our ancestors passed down their stories orally. Before I could read, I knew some stories, especially those of Uncle Tiger and Uncle Rabbit, because my grandmother and my dad would tell us those stories in the afternoons or evenings before bedtime. They also told stories of mermaids, magic fish, talking dead people and ghosts that guided people to great treasures.

I remember that once I asked Baby Jesus for a book of stories. I had already seen it in the window of a bookstore and I had fallen in love with that green, hardcover book. Then, my father, who read my letter, asked me:

"Why do you want a book if you already know how to read!" -and my sisters laughed at me because I hadn't asked for dolls or balls. Although the mockery affected me, it passed when I saw that storybook under my pillow. I remember putting on the back of it, in pencil, “This book belongs to Nancy” and placing it next to my other reading books. I looked at the shelf with those few books (4 or 6) and felt like I was blissful because I had my own library. Hahahahaha.

Over the years, I have met people who are fans, lovers, of shoes, handbags, clothes, even food, and some people have told me, like my friend César, “I created a fondness for food, for eating, because in my childhood I ate very little”. Maybe that's where my inclination for books comes from: because when I was a child I had very few. Today I have a library with hundreds, thousands, of books, mine, that I have bought over the years and that bear on the back cover a stamp that says: “This book belongs to the personal library of Nancy B”. What pride!!! :D

The images are from my personal gallery and the text was translated with Deepl

This is my participation this week for our great friend @ericvancewalton's initiative: Memoir monday. If you want to participate, here's the link to the invitation post

Thank you for reading and commenting. Until a future reading, friends