I know this quote alludes to book reading but it sums up perfectly why I blog. I distinctly remember, nearly ten years ago now, sitting in the tiny room in Richmond that we used as an office. I had googled some combination of colic, reflux and sleep deprivation and among many other sites, a blog came up. At the time, I had no idea that blogs existed.

Unfortunately, I don’t remember which blog it was (see colic, reflux and sleep deprivation above and insert, not much memory at the time) but I can picture the colors; browns and greens, an original Blogger template. I read the words over and over again. The author had a baby who cried more that she slept. She wrote about her exhaustion, her confusion, her loneliness.

And suddenly, I wasn’t alone. A world full of blogs opened up for me and they led me to books like Literary Mama; Reading for the Maternally Inclined, It’s a Girl; Women Writers on Raising Daughters and Mother Shock; Loving Every (Other) Minute of It. Now when I know other moms who are overwhelmed, I go to my bookcases and fill a bag with these books and others. I will leave them on a friend’s doorstep so they know that they too are not alone.

And that is the gift of reading right there. With books, you are never, ever alone.