Mothers and daughters

Today I felt very special. Gillian asked ME to read to her. Every night she has her father read to her, and it is truly a special time for both of them. Gillian looks forward to it every day. If they are finished, and I'm still reading to the boys, she will join us, but not otherwise. Today, however, as soon as we were done eating and cleaning the table, she grabbed her book and told me she was waiting for me to read to her. I asked Elijah to take care of the boys, and it was a good thing too, because Jefferson was in the mood to write letters to friends and family, and I just didn't feel like it. We sat down and I asked what book we were reading tonight. She responded: "Shakespeare, of course!" According to Gillian, she had had a good time reading the stories the night before that she wanted us to read them together. She added: "And I want you to read them to me, because I like your voice and the way you read them." This book "Stories from Shakespeare" is really beautifully written and illustrated. I normally don't read retold stories to the kids. I prefer them reading unabridged classics. They may not understand all of it, but the language will for sure enchant them. I think one reason Gillian likes this book (written by Geraldine McCaughrean) is the language. I also like the fact that on the side of each page the author shares some of the original verses by Shakespeare. When Gillian said 'goodnight' to me, she imitated me with all my dramatic as she recited "Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow,/That I shall say good night till it be morrow" (Romeo and Juliet, Act II, Scene II).
I can't wait to attend Shakespeare plays with Gillian. I know it will create a special bond between us. Here are some of my favorite quotes from Shakespeare:

"This above all: to thine own self be true." (Hamlet)
"What a piece of work is man! how noble in reason! how infinite in faculty! in form and moving how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the world, the paragon of animals!" (Hamlet)
"When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions."(Hamlet)
"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits, and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts." (As you like it)
"The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool." (As you like it)
"The course of true love never did run smooth." (A Midsummer Night's Dream)
"Everyone can master a grief but he that has it." (Much ado about nothing)
"We are such stuff as dreams are made on, rounded with a little sleep." (The Tempest)
"Cowards die many times before their deaths: The valiant never taste of death but once. Of all the wonders that I yet have heard, it seems to me most strange that men should fear; Seeing that death, a necessary end, will come when it will come."(Julius Caesar)
"My love's more richer than my tongue." (King Lear)