Naomi’s orthodontist appointment was going to be 90 minutes long. Before I left to pick her up from school, I shoved the small advent book I am reading in my bag. The orthodontist and technician did what I am paying them thousands of dollars to do while I read chapters 3 and 4 with a pencil in hand. I copied the line, “God works to heal our imaginations” into my notebook, because I wasn’t sure what else to do with a statement like that.
Less than twelve hours later, our family was headed out of town and Naomi was sitting next to me on our flight. I guess if you are in pain from new braces, you get whatever you want, especially when what you want is Mom.
After we boarded, I pulled Tara Westover’s memoir Educated out of my bag. I opened it. (c) 2018. How did it take me five years to get to this book? I sighed. Real academics don’t require vacations or book clubs to read books; reading books is their job. I sighed again. Soon they’ll find me out: the professor who doesn’t read.
The thoughts were interrupted when Naomi said, “Mom?”
“Yes?”
“Why do you read so much?”
I wrote, “Mom, why do you read so much?” into my notebook, because I wasn’t sure what else to do with a statement like that.
Leslie Gates 