Nicole's Personal Literacy Story

Twenty three years ago, I was born into this world. I was always eager to be around people, but found I was too shy to talk. I was more open around family, but communicating continued to be a challenge for me.

Although my mother knew I was fine, she began to grow worried with my continued silence. In an effort to break me out of my shell, my mom gave me my first book, "Love You Forever" by Robert Munsch.

She began to read this book to me all the time. It was chosen because of the message of a mother's love for her child. I loved these bonding nights with my mom and as my mom figured, I slowly began to speak more.

"I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always..."

As the days went on, these bonding nights soon turned into me reading the book to my mom. By this point, most of the 'reading' was reciting a favoured story that I knew by heart, but that did not make it any less special.

"As long as I'm living my mommy you'll be."