Words

When we were kids we lived in Italy for a time and that's where I found my love for words, and dusky women. Italian tv didn't interest me, especially since I couldn't understand it, so I read. Once a week I'd take a shopping bag to the base library and fill it with books. Unguided, I read anything I wanted, no one told me my choices were too old for me. Books were scattered all over the house so anywhere I was I'd have something to read. My favorite reading was comic books, I bought them every chance I got. We had a huge collection and when they were all read my brother and I loaded them into a box, put it in a wagon and went trading. We went to every kid we knew, every kid we saw and every place where kids might be found until all our comics were replaced. It was more than just the stories that drew me, more than the escape, I knew that one day I would find the words to make the stories and provide the escape.