Twilight

I finally saw Twilight this weekend.

And let me go ahead and get this straight up front, too. My son Edward was not named after Edward Cullen. He was named after one of John's closest friends, Edward Timmons, and after my grandfather, Edward Decker. As I explained to no less than ten swooning nurse at Baptist hospital. This morning I was relieved to see that the name Edward did not crack the Top 100 List of Baby Names.

But back to the original reason for this post. I loved the movie but after reading this book and all the others, the movie left me a wee bit disappointed. Only because the book was so much better. This is one of those classic cases where you really should read the book before you see the movie.

Read, you say. I have no time to read. I know because I said the same thing a few years ago. The extent of my reading was the latest issue of People or Us magazine. But a few things happened. I joined a book club. I had a baby. Then I had another baby. Along the way I rediscovered a love for books that had completely fallen by the wayside. I will read anything. I even borrowed a book from Tim about hockey ettiquette last year (and loved it).

While I was on maternity leave this fall, I actually watched very little TV. I read book after book. It was great and I didn't feel like I was wasting what little"me" time I get these days.

But even better, I love to read to my kids. I have rediscovered my old favories like Courderoy, I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew and The Little House. And now I'm starting to see that Jack enjoys books and reading, too. That's a huge reward for me.

I hope that one day, when he's ready, he'll pick up the first Harry Potter book and dive right in. I can't wait to hear what he imagines Hogwarts to be like or what he thinks about Draco Malfoy. His imagination will add so much to those books, much more than a movie can ever do.

In the end, I think that's what bugged me about the Twilight movie. As I read and savored the first book a few months ago, I spent hours lingering in scenes and moments, experiencing the evolution of a powerful relationship and meeting and getting to know characters who (though key in the book) were mere window dressing in the movie.

But to be fair, that's something even the best movie can't do. Only you and your imagination.