If you had asked me my career goal in the third grade, you might have been surprised to find the answer to be Girl Sleuth.
That's right. Angela Henderson - International Woman of Mystery. Austin Powers, watch out!
This interest in sleuthing and all things mysterious stemmed from my obsession with Nancy Drew Mysteries. My mother, who remembered reading the books as a child, introduced me to them and even enrolled me in the Nancy Drew Mystery Book Club. Each month, like clockwork, a new installment of the series would come in the mail. And, I would be waiting by the mailbox, ready to retrieve the brown cardboard box that transported me to the world of my favorite titian-haired, convertible-driving mystery solver.
It was not unusual for me to devour the entire book in one evening. The books were only 180 pages or so and they were so formulaic as to nearly read themselves. As the last page hovered between my fingers, I would be left hankering for another 29 days until the next delivery arrived.
Each evening before going to bed, it was my father's custom to make his rounds checking in on each of his children. God forbid a kidnapper might snatch one of his precious offspring! When he got to my room, the faint glow of a flashlight under the covers accompanied by the sound of pages rattling would alert him to the fact that his oldest daughter was still awake at the ungodly hour of 11:15 p.m., reading Nancy Drew!
I am sorry to report that I did not achieve my career goal to become the next Nancy Drew. I suspect there wasn't a whole lot of money in the enterprise anyway. One thing I did take away was a lifelong love of reading, and for that, I will ever be grateful to the inimitable Miss Drew!
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