I have always been one of those people who has to have a pen and tablet of paper close by.  I remember many times getting teased by my family if I was upset about something so I usually said nothing I would just go off and hide somewhere and cry. On my eighth birthday my wonderful grandmother who referred to me as “her brown-eyed beauty”,( even though she had several granddaughters with brown eyes), gave me a condensed version of the novel  Little Women by Louisa May Alcott and a beautiful locking diary.  That night as I read the story of the March sisters, I felt as though I were there. I cried when they cried and laughed when they laughed. That was the moment I realized I could escape. I began reading any book I could get my hands on, which was not easy because I was not fortunate enough to have a library card.  I read the original Black Beauty,  the Call of the Wild, the Pearl, and Love Story that first year due to having an older sister who hated to read or do homework.

On my 9th birthday, my great-grandpa and my Gram gave me first edition copies of  The Eight Cousins and Little Men both written by my favorite author; L.M. Alcott. They had come across them while going through some old trunks in the attic but waited until my birthday to present them to me. I was in heaven.

*part two: The Diary