Aloud

a•loud adverb 1.with the normal tone and volume of the speaking voice, as distinguished from whisperingly: They could not speak aloud in the library. 2. vocally, as distinguished from mentally: He read the book aloud. 3. with a loud voice; loudly: to cry aloud in grief.

We don't really celebrate Valentine's Day, me and my husband. Sometimes we give each other cards, I think there has been a few roses, but generally Valentine's day is just another day. Now, it's not really a Norwegian celebration at all, and I do believe the whole corporate-greed-hallmark-is-evil-argument is fairly valid when it comes to countries with less than 20 years of real Valentine's traditions. However, as a girl, I always think a lot about romance on Valentine's day. It's my mushy little secret, and I'm sorry. It's all the hearts and bears and candy, they all make me a bit fluffy inside.

While thinking about romance i reread a post in a blog I'm stalking, this post, about reading books aloud for children (or really why Tolkien's books are so great for reading aloud, but my point remains the same). I really like this post, and I think it's spot on about Tolkien's mastery of the dialogue. It started me thinking about being read to.

I remember the way it was really important not to make too much of a fuss before going to bed, so there would be time to read. I remember fighting to stay awake when I had guilted Mamma into reading just one more chapter, and I remember Pappa and Mamma doing the voices differently, and that being part of the safety of it all. I think the feeling of safety, that feeling of all is well - people have time to sit down and read, is part of why being read to is something I love so much. Possibly also why I love audio books so much. It always calms me down on a crowded buss, at the dentist's office or after a long day, to listen to a great storyteller reading me a book.

Then it got me thinking about how my husband patiently lets me read passage after passage of all kinds of random stuff to him. Often things he does not really care for or even understand (like when I read him a long passage about a meeting in the middle of a book, just because I loved the way it was written).

Finally it reminded me about something I had completely forgotten, that happened a few years back. I was really sick and  felt really sorry for myself. I was lonely, bored and a bit scared, and I so much wished I could escape into a book.  My loving husband, who is not the "read aloud" type, then found one of our "Get Fuzzy" comic books and started reading it to me. He made all the voices, making Satchel semi-retarded and Bucky all kinds of evil. He tried doing a twisted Oslo-dialect (which he really can't do) and made Fungo be Mexican/Northern Norwegian, and all of it was just utterly disturbing, but made me feel really safe.

I think that may have been the most romantic thing I've ever experienced.
Happy Valentine's Day.