What Was Your First…?
Word
By: Emily Carrington
What was your first word, and how did it shape your life?
This month’s question isn’t about books—unless your first word was book, of course!
My first word was “dog,” which was unusual because we didn’t have a dog. My mom is extremely allergic to dogs, including poodles and other hypoallergenic dogs.
So, how did “dog” manage to become my first word? I was visually impaired, so this means my development was delayed in all sorts of areas because, to my infant and toddler self, nothing was exciting in the blurriness of my world.
There was, fortunately, a television that I couldn’t see very clearly, but I could listen to it. Cartoons were my favorite because they were bright colors, and I could sometimes follow them. I used to listen to a television show I now can’t find anywhere. I think it was called Pound Puppies.
I became obsessed with dogs, progressing from dressing like a dog for two Halloweens in a row to getting my own guide dog later in life.
How does this relate to books? Well, what shapes us as children usually leads to what interests us as adults. I wrote my first novel with a guide dog a few years ago. He’s a black Labrador and his owner is Ash Delaney, an adopted nonbinary teenager. Check out their story here:
Looks Aren’t Everything (Marisburg Chronicles 5)
Changeling press
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