In liu of flowers...read with a child

In lieu of flowers read with a child.

In lieu of flowers...these are the words

that are seen obituaries across the country.

From time to time something is offered which makes you wonder.

I came across one once,

and staying with me the words indeed

have made me wonder.

In losing two Grandmothers this last month,

and thinking of a way that I could honor

and share the beauty of the lives they lived

I thought of those word:

In lieu of flowers, read with a child.

So often we send someone a bouquet of flowers

for an accomplishment or congratulations,

maybe even to say "I'm thinking of you", or "Get Well".

What if instead we passed along the knowledge that

because I'm thinking of you I am going to read with a child today,

or hoping you will "Get Well" I am going to read with a child.

In your name today, I am going to do something good;

something really really good.

Something lasting.

Elementary Schools across the nation are taking children along the path of reading every day. They take privileged and underprivileged alike; hungry, hopeful little people and nourish them with words. Some of these children will only ever experience reading in the hands of educators trying on a dime to make a difference in their world, and therefore in our world. These little people are the future of all our lives, and what is done with them today determines the world we all live in tomorrow.

They need to be read too, read with, and the only way that can happen is if every one of us asks ourselves, did I do something today that will matter tomorrow. Reading with a child matters. In lieu of something else you could be doing, read with a child.

What you can do:

Call up an elementary school in your area,

ask about their reading programs and volunteer to read with children.

Every school needs volunteers;

every child needs someone who cares.

Age, monetary status, beliefs, discriminations are not an issue.

In my children's school they acknowledged

a World War II veteran on Veterans Day

this past week who the children know as Joe.

The children know him because

twice a week he volunteers

in the I Can Read program.

He has already given much to his country,

as a decorated veteran;

yet, he knows the potential of these children,

of our country, of the future begins

between the pages of a simple children's story,

and the patience and time to read with a child.

So, In lieu of....READ with a child.