Rebecca ****** Age 8

Something wonderful has happened at our house.

My 8 year old step-daughter has finally embraced my love of reading. And I have Beverly Cleary to thank.

Just to give you a little background, when I "got" Rebecca, she didn't even know her ABC's. She knew the song, but when I mixed up the letter flashcards so they were out of order, she had no clue what the letters were. It was worrisome and she has seemed to be trying to catch up ever since. First grade it was a fight to get her to read. And despite Dave and I often working 12 hours day, we came home every night and worked with her. It was very frustrating because it was always a fight. She just didn't like to read, it was very difficult for her and it was just very trying. We felt like our efforts were not paying off. We talked about getting her a reading tutor or sending her to Sylvan, but it is so expensive. And we held off.

Then she got into second grade and got a wonderful teacher who was so encouraging to her. It was still somewhat of a fight to get her to read but she was definitely making progress. By the end of the school year she was reading on her own. It was glorious.

So last night I took both kids to Borders and told them they could each pick out a book. While Sam wandered off to pick out a "boy" book, I wandered into the children's book section with Rebecca. There I found all the wonderful books I read as a little girl and young adult. Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, SuperFudge, The Phantom Tollbooth, Anne of Green Gables, The Boxcar Children, and the Ramona Quimby series. And with my encouragement, Rebecca picked out "Ramona Quimby, Age 8".

And she started reading it in the car. It was bliss. She didn't even want to stop to eat. She just wanted to read. We got home and she took that book to bed with her and when I went upstairs to tuck her in, she was asleep with the book on her chest (the first time that has ever happened). And when I took the book off her chest she stirred and murmured, "I'm so tired, but I wanted to finish the chapter." and then rolled over and went back to sleep.

And I stood there in awe of what we have finally accomplished. This is my little girl. She may not have come from me, but she's mine and I'm so proud of how far we both have come.