“That’s a noise,” grinned the Grinch, “That I simply must hear! ” So he paused. And the Grinch put his hand to his ear. And he did hear a sound rising over the snow. It started low. Then it started to grow. But the sound wasn’t sad! Why this sound sounded merry. It couldn’t be so! But it WAS merry! VERY!
He stared down at Whoville! The Grinch popped his eyes! Then he shook! What he saw was a shocking surprise! Every Who down in Whoville, the tall and the small, was singing! Without any presents at all!
He hadn’t stopped Christmas from coming! It came! Somehow or other, it came just the same! And the Grinch with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow stood puzzling and puzzling: “How could it be so?” It came without ribbons! It came without tags! It came without packages , boxes or bags!” This passage, of course, is from How the Grinch Stole Christmas! , written by Dr. Seuss.
Am I reading this Christmas classic to myself? No, of course not! The beauty of Seuss’s wonderful books are two fold; his fanciful illustrations and his lyrically written verses. His books beg to be read aloud. This Christmas season I was blessed to read How the Grinch Stole Christmas to my youngest grandson. He had just turned five years old at the end of November. While reading aloud to him as he cuddled at my side, I watched his intense focus laser Dr. Seuss’s illustrations while his 5 year old ears were full of my 72 year-old voice attempting to sing Seuss’s timeless verse.
Today, a few weeks later as I pen this reflection, I revisit Edgar Allan Poe. I believe one of his many quotes about dreams is appropriate to ponder while I visit my metaphorical lighthouse. “All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.”
Dream within a dream. Thirty-five to forty-five years ago I had been given a fatherly blessing: As I read to my four children they in turn cuddled at my side. The wonderful world of children story authors and their story books are priceless gifts for many parents and their children. Their genius created too many titles to mention here.
My daughter loved Madeline. Hmm, is that true or just a dream memory of her old father? My sons loved their stories too. Of course Dr.Seuss was a repeated cuddle/voice over laser stares of all. My youngest son, cuddled to all that and in my dream I added Eric Carle to our cuddle theme. Their mother added her balanced voice many an hour to our children’s cuddle/reading time too.
Dream within a dream. As I reflect on my older dreams of my past, are the memories of my cuddle/times spent with my ears full of my grandmother’s voice sharing The Adventures of Jimmy Skunk, The Adventures of Reddy Fox and other Bedtime Story Books by Thornton W. Burgess real? At Christmas I seem to remember I would receive another one or two of his books. Did I fall asleep reading about the adventures of Peter Cottontail and Lightfoot the Deer? Was my inner reading voice slowly emerging from the reading voice of my grandmother? Or is that all just a dream within a dream. (If your dream within a dream has the echoes of a favorite book of yours being introduced to you by a loved family member, please share that memory in the comments for this blog.)
Humbly I reflect on my love of reading to my nine grandchildren and my four children! I have to be thankful that generations of my family held the spoken word read and the story told as instrumental and important as breathing! I also understand that our legacy is so much more than the material we leave our children. Long after I go I hope my cuddle/time voice is heard when they dream at nite and each morning it morphs into their own voice when they awake – stronger and stronger each new day!
Be in peace and joy!
Thank you for reading and I wish you the happiest New Year!
Mark