I don't know where this idea is coming from-probably since I am thinking about going to college somehow. I strongly believe that the only things we take with us when we leave this life are our memories, our earned skills and our total knowledge. Saying that, nothing we learn- either formally in a classroom, or informally through life's lessons, is ever lost. We may forget we know something, but the afterlife will allow us to use the skill/knowledge.

My husband and I have been watching the series 'Stargate.' We are working on season 5. Last night we had to take a break- I am starting to have weird dreams related to the series. This has happened to me before. It means brain overload with sci fi.

That leads me to another item, those of you who had parents that understood your need to read, that encouraged you to read out side the box, and who made those unusual books available to you-I envy you. My mother did not allow me to free read-once I learned how to read, she started limiting (or trying to limit) how much I read. I was an extreme introvert-still am an introvert, but I force myself into some types of social interactions to fight it. She did not like that aspect of me and figured that reading was the cause of it. Of course, being put into a foster home at 6mos, being joined by my natural sister approximately 1 year later and then not being adopted till I was 5 and she was 3 did'nt come into play in her mind. Even in high school where I was the resident Trekkie, my father had a problem. To him science fiction was a waste of time and had no bearing on reality. He made the mistake of mentioning that to me when I was a junior in high school. Wrong timing. My American History teacher had assigned a series of term papers-we picked the topic and then followed the history of it from 1920 through 1975. You guessed it, I picked sci fi. I bit off a bit more than I could swallow at one time. So when dad made the comment, I had a good answer. My mom was sickly and in and out of the hospital quite a bit. I responded with "do you know where the idea for xrays came from? blood transfusions and iv's?" I was working on the 3rd term paper out of 5. I had read everything that was printed and in the public library system. That was the last argument from him. Yes I did live a bit in my books. They were an escape and still are. But a better escape I could not have-they are not dangerous to me. May be to those who don't want people to think. They are not harmful to the human body unless you carry too many at one time, and they comfort. I had a social worker ask me one time why I didn't use drugs and still managed to keep myself pretty well grounded-counseling was needed for me to finish growing up some. I pointed out my books. If only the youth of today would have the same addiction! I am getting off my soap box now. take care.