Editor note: This is a guest post by Josh Hanagarne, World’s Strongest Librarian
“Mrs, Hanagarne, good to see you again,” said the doctor as he lowered a pair of long, sharp scissors into my throat. The blades were especially long, narrow, and bent at a strange angle, although the angle was well-suited for its purpose: extraction.
“You too, Doctor.”
“What was it this time?”
I was four years old. After a trip to the library, we had returned home with an armful of books. The morning of the visit to Dr. Scissors, I had been reading a story with my mom called Mr. Gopher. Mr. Gopher’s favorite food was marigolds. My mom had a marigold garden. The second her back was turned, I ran outside and ate a handful of marigolds, which have long, pointy, slivery seeds.
This scenario replayed itself often, with varying degrees of damage done. I formed many associations: Doctors = pain and stainless steel. The ER is a place to make friends. Gophers = friends worth being suspicious of, et cetera.
But the one association I never made was that books were anything but good. Stories did not lead me to the doctor, marigolds did. Books weren’t responsible for sending me to the hospital over and over after I’d eaten something, jumped off of something way too high, or gotten into a fight at school because I was playing Conan.
Despite the injuries, mounting medical costs, and exasperation of my parents, I kept reading and they kept reading to me. When I would get hurt, my soothing treat was rarely ice cream of sympathy, but another trip to the library.
I became a librarian because of all these things. I see that same little boy walk through my doors every day at work. His head is huge, his glasses are always bent, and he can’t decide which books he wants, so he sweeps them into a basket and takes them all. And that boy is never happier than when he has a new stack of stories to explore.
I am still that boy, and now I have a son of my own. One day, I have no doubt that we will be in the ER because of something he has tried after reading about it. I will try to talk sense to him, but I will not discourage reading, stories, or imagination. I am who I am because I made friends early and often. Some of the friends were real, some were not. The distinction was, is, and will always be unimportant to me.
Josh Hanagarne
Get Stronger, Get Smarter, Live Better…Every Day
About the Author: Josh Hanagarne is the twitchy giant behind World’s Strongest Librarian, a blog about living with Tourette’s Syndrome, kettlebells, book recommendations, buying pants when you’re 6’8”, old-time strongman training, and much more. Please subscribe to Josh’s RSS Updates to stay in touch.