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How Dr. Seuss's Death Traumatized Me at 7 & Simultaneously Inspired My Writing Career
I was like most kids in the 80s. I loved Dr. Seuss’ books.
When my mom would read me a bedtime story, I always requested Seuss.
The books were fun and funny and silly, and so perfect for a kid’s curious, ripe imagination.
One night after finishing a book while sitting on the edge of my bed, my Mom closed the book and looked at me with a strange, sad look on her face. I could tell she was about to say something important, and it didn’t look good.
“Dr Suess is dead.”
WHAT?!?! I was crushed and immediately started crying. And I remember it wasn’t just a your-brother-hit-you type of cry. I felt a dark emptiness, like when you lose something you truly love and it feels like life is over.
There was a huge hole in my chest.
“We can still read his books,” my Mom said, comforting me. “He just can’t write any more of them.”
I instantly felt better and stopped crying.
What did I care if he was dead if we could still read the books?
Everything was going to be fine. We still had Seuss! I hadn’t even realized that a person was behind the magical rhyming words and colorful pages. It’s not…
