Crosswords, Jigsaws, & Reading

Growing up, I always envied my mother’s skill at crossword puzzles. We got a daily newspaper from Boston (probably the Globe) and she did it every day. She also had the small paperbacks of crosswords and I soon started working them as well. I was a voracious reader by age ten and did pretty well at adult crosswords by age twelve. I haven’t done many in the past years and I miss it.

 

I also loved jigsaw puzzles as a child. We had one room that we called the den. My mother’s sewing machine, a small record player, a sofa/couch used for when we were sick), and bookcase. I would set up an old card table (remember those – folding legs, cardboard feeling top and mostly used for playing cards) and lay out my puzzle pieces. I loved the challenge of them, the more pieces the better.

 

I think I read every book in the bookcase – some were fairly adult (Peyton Place comes to mind) but it didn’t matter to me. The favorites were Reader’s Digest Condensed Books. Oh my, stories upon stories upon stories! Of course I had my own favorite books and visited the local library weekly. Reading was my escape as it still is today.