Recently, Tori wrote about a favorite memory related to reading from when she was a child:
“My father, a navy pilot, would write me short stories when he was deployed, complete with cartoon drawings.
My mom would read me my dad’s stories as they arrived in the mail.
I couldn’t wait though for my dad to come home, to sit [on] his knee, and have him read them to me with all his fun voices.”
Quote excerpted from the written note above.
Victoria “Tori” Calisch has been a long-time supporter of Reading Legacies and during that time joined in a volunteer and occasional advisory capacity! She recently joined the Board of Trustees to see how else she can further the mission!
Tori’s mom, Deborah also had this to share:
Reading is a legacy in our family.
My dad, [Tori’s grandfather, went from] farm boy to Air Force fighter pilot, then retired and returned to get his Masters in Library Science and became an elementary school librarian.
First, in a base school, then in city schools and finally in Tucson Barrio schools; all because he loved reading and wanted kids to love it too.
So reading in our family was always important.
Fortunately, my husband also loved reading and storytelling and early days with our children he would read to them – even if he was reading his textbooks, his flight manual, the Economist.
Soon it was children’s books from all the places we traveled to and all the story books I had saved from my childhood.
Books have always been friends but reading out loud to a child is love.
Arne’s clever story, written on detachment, was a lifeline for Tori, missing her dad. [It] continued to be a fascination for her younger brother, as they made the prose into a song and is still treasured by our family. Finally, I had Arne record it, spoken and in song, before he was allowed to go back on detachment!
Being the great father and grandfather he is, naturally this carried over to our grandchildren.
Tori’s story, and her family’s story continues to be told through the simple, but impactful, act of reading together and using stories as a way for family to deepen their relationships.
What are your family’s reading traditions?
