I have been running to catch up with my own life for what
seems like a very long time. Just ask my husband. My life has been
exceptionally chaotic lately, to the point that my volunteer hours as a Project
Armchair reader have suffered. And, oh how I have missed it. Nothing feels
quite right when I don’t have time to do the thing I love best.
I pulled into the parking lot of a local homeless shelter
yesterday and smiled. Finally! I was armed with a wide array of
upper-elementary books. Books the older boys of the after-school program had
requested the last time I read there. (SIDE NOTE: Shout out to their teachers
who helped them discover their own “reading territories” - books that kids are
naturally drawn to).
It was sweetly calm when I entered the large room where the
kids spend time until parents can pick them up. There were kids at long table
working on puzzles or crafts. Others lounged in comfortable chairs. The workers
looked in my direction and smiled warmly.
As familiar young faces ran to greet me, I hugged each one
that stretched out arms for affection. Others stood shyly at the perimeter and
waited. They soon directed their attention to my rolling crate. The one filled
with what they were REALLY excited about… my books. A tall kid just to my right
asked without preamble, “Do you have any Dog
Man books?” “As a matter of fact, I do,” I responded with a broad smile. “But
you’ll have to wait your turn.” His shoulders slumped a little, but he followed
me dutifully across the room.
I (vainly) attempted to have the children take turns
choosing a book and sitting beside me while I read their choice to them. But no
matter how many times I asked them to stand back and wait their turn, they
continued to crowd around the rolling treasure box of coveted books and to
search longingly for the perfect
choice. I finally gave up shooing them off and had them sit around me on the
floor as I read every book to every child. They were like hungry little birds, absorbing
every word and feasting on the bright illustrations. They laughed at funny
pictures and nodding knowingly at familiar connections.
The Dog Man fan eventually
had his turn to choose one of several from the series. He gratefully accepted
his treasure and disappeared. Soon another middle school-aged boy appeared and
asked for a book. Then another. Apparently, word travels fast where graphic
novels are concerned. I packed up the remaining books, put on my coat and turned
to leave. Then my heart constricted and melted into a gooey mass. Lounging on
chairs and stretched across the sofa were boys in big bodies devouring their
new books. They were aware of nothing around them. They were utterly and
contentedly lost in their new books.
This…
This is what it is all about.
This is what the volunteers of Project Armchair have set at
their primary goal. Kids in crisis finding a moment’s reprieve from challenging
circumstances through the pages of a really good book.
In my doctoral studies, I came across the story of a young
woman who spent most of her growing up years in transience. Homeless shelters
were a natural part of her environment. She longed to escape from the cycle of
poverty and was naturally intelligent. She recounted in an interview how she
would read any and everything that she could get her hands on, including cereal
boxes, and old copies of Readers Digest. Books, she claimed, were her escape.
I witnessed echoes of that yesterday. Shelters are not beautiful
places to live. Life is hard when you are transient. I mean HARD. Fear, stress,
and chaos are the norm. If Dog Man can relieve a little of that for a few brief
moments, then I am a happy camper.
Oh, and Khadijah Williams? The girl who read cereal boxes when
there was nothing else available? She ended up at Harvard. You can read more
about this inspiring young woman here:
