The First Time


“Dear old world," she murmured, "you are very lovely, and I am glad to be alive in you." 
~Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables 


The sun woke me up on a beautiful Sunday morning, just like any other. The birds sang while the wind blew calmly through the trees and my young self sat there in what still seems to me all the beauty in the world, with something that my young mind could not grasp at the time. It was passion and little did I know that in those very mornings would be the first time I felt the joy of passion blooming.

I spent countless Sundays in the same manner. I would wake up, comb my hair and get dressed. Immediately after I would go to my little spot out on our deck, look out at the trees and the beauty I was amidst and then sit down on a chair and divulge myself to the first novel I can actually remember each time before going to mass. I cried when (*spoiler alert*) Matthew Cuthbert died and I was in love with Gilbert Blythe from the start.

Prior to these days I didn't have the same interest in words the way I did after Anne of Green Gables. I remember looking starry-eyed at my mother as she read the same novel, before me of course. Watching her read made me think: "I want to be just like Mommy." And that is exactly what lead me to those lovely Sunday mornings. That is exactly what lead me to love the words and literature and all the things that writers brought to art. That is exactly what made me want to do the same. Lucy Maud Montgomery was my first author and an astounding one at that. That novel taught me so much at the age of nine, made me want romance, adventure and wit like Anne. Maybe it even contributed to somewhat of my personality today.

To me, since I was nine, the most extravagant things were found for me since the day I picked up a book. I went on to read more, probably over one hundred novels, but Anne is always the one character that I will hold on to. She was my first, the first of what I didn't know to bring me a ton of joy and love for words. I owe it all to the little girl with dreams to be like her remarkable mother. Thank you, Mom.

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