THANK YOU MR. BURTON

Not to be dramatic; but I’ve recently come to the conclusion that Levar Burton and his show “Reading Rainbow” may have saved my life. Let me explain.

I recently heard that infamous theme song to Reading Rainbow. You know the words, “Butterfly in the sky. I can go twice as high. Take a look. It’s in a book….. A Reading Rainbow”. Immediately, I was back in my childhood home, sitting in front of our box tv singing along. I knew every lyric, every note. A feeling of peace and hope came over me that I had not felt since I was watching this man on my television set, listening to him read me a story. And that’s when I realized that this man saved my life.

Okay…so maybe he didn’t SAVE my life. But I do emphatically believe he had a huge influence on my life that I still carry with me today. My childhood was complicated by so many factors. My parents were only 17 when I was born. They were divorced. We were poor. My mother was in and out of the hospitals due a chronic illness and subsequent transplants. We lived in the rural MS Delta with few opportunities. These things made my childhood chaotic and unpredictable. For this reason, I cling to routines and simplicity to this day.

For me, Reading Rainbow was one constant in my life that I could depend on to help me zone out the scary unknowns that plagued my childhood. And by submerging myself into this make believe universe for 30 minutes a day where I could go anywhere and do anything and fly higher than a butterfly, I not only learned how to compartmentalize my feelings and let go of the things I had no control over; I have come to realize that I learned life lessons that I have carried with me for almost 50 years now. These are lessons I’ve shared with my children. And now that I am a grandmother, these are lessons I want to share with my Extraordinary Eleanor.

Can revisiting a childhood show and rereading children’s books really change our perspective on life as an adult? I believe so. In fact, I know so. How else can you explain the immediate calmness and nostalgia I felt just hearing that magical theme song? I truly think that if we could take just a few minutes to tap back into those simpler times, we can change the world today. So that’s what I intend to do with this blog.

I will be revisiting books Levar Burton covered on Reading Rainbow to see if my perspective has been tarnished or enhanced by life over the years. I once believed in what I was singing. I believed that I could go anywhere and be anything; and that there were friends to know and ways to grow; a reading rainbow. So I am striving to find that hope again through this blog and maybe giving the rest of the world some hope and a new perspective too.

But no matter what the outcome of this little experiment is; I do know I need to say this. Even though he may never ever see it; “Thank you Mr. Burton. Thank you for those few minutes you spent with me, reading to me and taking me away on a butterfly’s wing.”

So, what was your favorite book as a child? Did it have a lasting effect on you? I would love to hear about the tall tales that stayed with you through every stage in your life.