Reading Charlotte's Web

About a month ago Boo and I started reading a chapter of Charlotte's Web every night before bed. She's seen the movie countless times, but reading this book - without many pictures - was quite a different experience.

There were numerous occasions when I felt like she wasn't listening and would rather read a little picture book, but the beauty of Charlotte's Web is that Wilbur, like Boo, asks a lot of questions. Just when I thought I'd lost her attention, she'd perk up when Wilbur would ask because Boo wanted to hear Charlotte's wise answer.

The night we read the second to the last chapter of the book, something unexpected happened. I started to cry. The thought of poor, selfless Charlotte withering away & dying all alone in a pig stall at the empty county fairgrounds was just too much to bear. She had done so much for Wilbur and at the end of her life she deserved have her best friend by her side. Never mind the fact that she would never meet her 514 babies - her "magnum opus".

I tried to hide my tears and keep my voice steady. I kept reading and then made the mistake of making eye contact with Boo. Her bottom lip quivered, her eyes filled up with tears. She was looking for a sign from me that it was OK to let-er-rip. What the heck. We let the floodgates open and little Boo & I had ourselves a good long cry.

Hubby came upstairs to find two blubbering females who could only manage to choke out the words, "Charlotte DIEEEEEEED."

Thank goodness the final chapter, read the following evening, lent itself to a happy ending. But that cry, shared between mother and daughter, was a special bonding moment. And I knew that she really was listening and caring about each word I read.