Characters

I have been re-reading books as the kids are getting older: books that have been sitting on my shelves since I was a girl, or ones I picked up in college, or that I chose to put in my classroom, or even ones that I borrowed from the library in ages past.  It is odd how differently I see some of the stories now.  Even the books I read when Kate was a little bitty thing are different.  I see the things I would like to hide from the children, of course, the death, the saddness, but the characters I relate to have changed as well.

Once upon a time, I saw myself in Anne and Diana in the L.M. Montgomery's books, now I see Kate as Anne.  Oh, I see so much Anne in Kate!  I see some of Jo March in her too.  I have moved on to Marilla and Marmee.  I left behind even Professor McGonagall for Molly Weasley.  Of course Molly is younger than the professor, but instead of being the teacher, I am the mama of many.

So, as I go back to visit these old friends, whose stories I have known, I find that while they have stayed the same, I have not.  I see the mothers and care takers, as they struggle to raise the children in their care--and that's where I am these days.  At least there are still some nice characters to relate to, we'll just hope I don't turn in to some of the grumpy, nosy, gossipy old women in their pages by the time I return to them again!

Do you have books that your view has changed of as you have grown?