{She Said} It's Like Drug To Me (**updated**)

I am writing in to Oprah to try to get on the show. You know it won't happen, I know it won't happen, but it doesn't hurt to try. It just so happens that I am writing in on a topic very dear to my heart that I haven't really addressed on here: Twilight. So, for your reading pleasure, here it goes...

Little did I know when, for Christmas, I asked for a new popular book I had heard about, that it would enrich my life in so many ways.

2008 was a really rough year. Family crisis all over the place. One night, needing to clear my mind, I sat down and started reading Twilight. Over the next few weeks, in any free time I had between substitute teaching and life requirements, I did nothing other than read. I went through the entire series and then read through it again.

I related the book to many aspects of my life. Bella’s story offered me the escape from my real world that I needed. I could relate to her feelings of responsibility for the safety of those around her.  As I saw similarities between my husband and the beloved character, Edward, I found myself falling in love with him all over again. I appreciated that Edward wanted to take care of Bella because I was in need of someone to take care of me- and through their story, I saw that my husband was doing just that.

Twilight was an oasis for me. I read the blogs and started in depth conversations about the books with any one that would engage. I convinced others to read the books and became irrevocably grateful to Stephanie Meyer for offering her story to the rest of us.

As that year tolled on, I received my teaching certificate and found a job as a 7th grade history teacher. It was then that Twilight took on a new role in my life: a bridge. As I grasped for ways to connect with my students, I found Twilight to be a common ground. When I was able to engage students in conversations about the books, they became more engaged in my class (despite little connection between the books and history). I was able to convince students that hated reading to try out the books and was ecstatic to see them bringing New Moon, Eclipse, and finally Breaking Dawn in.

Additionally, Twilight has provided a common topic for me to stay connected with friends. As my enthusiasm was catching, many friends started reading the series and soon, I was reconnecting and having long conversations again with people who, due to deviations in life courses, I hadn’t talked to beyond checking facebook in years. My husband is now reading the stories and we have the best conversations analyzing the events as they unfurl for him- it is like experiencing it for the first time all over again through his eyes.

Twilight is a unifying force. It connects old readers with young readers, boys and girls, men and women. People can be light or heavy fans. There are always different perspectives to be taken of the text. It has been valuable to be as a teacher, friend, woman, and person.

{UPDATE} as Matt reads the post, he says, "Your title is almost a quote from the book." My response, "yes, I know." Two things... #1: that "almost" killed me, like a challenge. FINE you detail oriented freak! SO, the original title of this post was "It's Like a Drug FOR Me." It is now correct (I felt like the point was gotten despite the minor change but whatever). #2: the fact he knows the books well enough now that he noted the one word difference in my title vs. the quote in the book (or movie-they both have it) is interesting (I will let you do what you will with that- be amazed, judge him, laugh at him, whatever).