Mom's Gift to Me

A box arrived from Mom this week while I was at school and we opened it today.

Inside was a gangly and otherwise odd-looking stuffed creature that we later determined was Sam. Sam-I-Am. Sam-I-Am from Green Eggs and Ham.

Sam-I-Am came with a copy of the book in which he stars.

There was also a holiday pillow with a family of three snowmen (snowpeople) on it. I asked Ryan to tell me which one represented each of us. He pointed to the largest one and said it was me. He pointed to the other "adult" snowman and said it was Jeff. He pointed to the snowkid and said it was him.

When a box comes from Mom, Ryan delights in determining which gifts are for whom. One day he said, Grandma sent a package and everything in it was for me.

But today, Ryan didn't realize the real gift Mom sent me. Mom introduced me to Dr. Seuss. I remember reading One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish to my younger brother when I had first learned to read. A gift of Dr. Seuss had added value for me.

Ryan did what he always does with a new book. He grabbed it up and said, Can we read it? Jeff said: I bet you can read that one yourself.

So Ryan and I scrambled onto the sofa.

And Ryan read Green Eggs and Ham.

He read the whole book aloud to us.

Slowly, word by word, his finger touching each one.

Ryan read Green Eggs and Ham.

It was by far the longest book he has ever read himself.

I do so like Green Eggs and Ham. I like them, like them, Sam-I-Am.