Reading Together
2006 at 4:03 pm | by Nicole WhitacreFiled under Biblical Womanhood Reading
One day, during our engagement, Steve and I took a walk around a local pond, bordered by shops and park benches. We came across some dear friends of my parents, Robin and Clara. They were sitting close together on a bench, reading a book. Reading aloud to each other—they told us—was something they had enjoyed for over twenty years of marriage.
Inspired by their example, we resolved that reading together would be a part of our marriage. So, we brought a book to read to each other on our honeymoon—Moby Dick (I know it seems like an oddly unromantic choice, but we were staying at Nantucket so it made sense at the time). One of my favorite mental snapshots from our trip is sitting on a chilly beach and relishing language together. On our long drive home I read to Steve from some of my favorite books by P.G. Woodhouse about a man named Wooster and his butler Jeeves.
Reading aloud to each other hasn’t been quite as consistent as we would have liked. Life fills up fast. But recently we started up again. We just finished Ivanhoe (swords for him, romance for me). Some day we hope we’ll fill a shelf—maybe even a couple of shelves with the books we’ve read, me and him.
I’m not suggesting every couple should read together. (Janelle recently told me that when she and Mike tried it out, he fell asleep!) However, it’s great to have some activity or hobby you enjoy doing as a couple. If you don’t already have one, why not give reading together a try?
P.S. It’s raining buckets here in Virginia again. The house is quiet and dark. Perfect for curling up with a good book and a cup of red bush tea!
