heard.
Certain words caught his
attention.
He collected words he
saw.
Certain words jumped out
at him.
He collected words he read."
Jerome is a collector of the best sort.; at least, for those who love words and the power they have to communicate and to help us understand the world. Jerome collects the words he hears, the words he sees, and the words he reads. He has a set of books for storage, and those books are arranged in very specific ways. In them he collects words that are part of an even greater collection ... 'Italian', 'whispery', 'serious', 'weather'. His growing pile of word-filled books are of great importance to him, as you can imagine. He spends his days adding to those collections.
It is a worthy pursuit; one that comes with risks. One day, while transporting a towering stack, Jerome slips and falls. In seconds, his carefully gathered and duly assorted manuals release every one of those words to the ground around him. What a jumble! As he considers the result of his fall, Jerome begins a new process. He puts those words together in totally different ways. Using them to write poetry and lyrics, he makes a difference for others. Using them to express his feelings provides a power he has not previously felt. He keeps collecting.
"The more words he knew the more
clearly he could share with the world
what he was thinking, feeling, and dreaming."
Those of us who love words, and writing and reading them, know their power. In bringing them to the children whose lives we share, we help them learn to do the same.
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