This day, inauguration day, dawned foggy and below freezing. I wanted to sit on the couch with my boys and a hot cup of coffee and watch the inauguration. I had, however, planned to distribute books to children in our school district’s early intervention program. These free books are made possible through Reading Is Fundamental (RIF).

 

At the breakfast table, my boys and I looked at a map of Washington, DC. We traced today’s parade route. They pointed out sites we had seen this summer on our family trip. We talked about the historic nature of today and then I sent them off to school.

 

I loaded books into my car and set out, listening to speeches on the radio. The road was slick with black ice and the trees crystallized with a heavy frost. I thought about that hot cup of coffee and the possibility of watching the speeches live on TV. I was a little grumpy. That all changed when I walked through the preschool door. This is a rural school, where more than half of the students speak a language other than English at home. Many speak Spanish, although there are a few of Laotian descent who speak Hmong. Many can not afford new books. Few will ever take a family tripto Washington, DC as my children have.

 

Today their class was talking about ice. The teacher asked them to guess what would happen if they poured water onto a huge block of ice. Many hypothesized that it would melt. But there was one little boy, hand raised high, who guessed that it would “grow bigger, because the ice would freeze the water into more ice!” What a wonderful, curious, critical thinker! How lucky that he can be in this enriched environment!

 

Before conducting their experiments on the block of ice, they each chose a book from my book box. Many selected bilingual books. Some were overwhelmed with the choices. Each of them showed appreciation.

 

So, I missed watching Inauguration Day live. However, as an author, a mother, an American, a human being, I can not imagine a better place to have been today. On this day, I was able to give books to children who needed them.