I discovered my love for reading when I was ten years old. I read a book called “The Endless Steppe” by Ester Rudomin Hautzig and I stayed up until four in the morning reading it. I couldn’t put it down. My affinity for reading is definitely bolstered by genetics. In all my life, I don’t think I’ve ever seen my mother without a book in hand. While my ever growing library may seem small to some (yes Twist, I mean you) my husband often complains about having to look for us among the stacks. Books are neatly piled everywhere.

When Adam (my oldest) was learning to read, it was like pulling teeth. There were many tears of frustration (mostly mine) and countless hours of practicing. I was sure by some twist of fate, genetics had failed me. One day it all just clicked for him. I remember he sweet little six year old face looking up at me and saying: “It’s like the world just grew and it can go on and on forever!” Can you hear my internal sigh? I knew he was just like me. Over the years I have introduced him to many books and have had the immense pleasure of having book chats with my son.

I first discovered John Green a while after becoming a part of an on-line community of fans who love Harry Potter. I begun to watch his youtube videos. It was a compilation of video messages sent back and forth between him and his brother, Hank Green. They were hilarious and on many occasions colossally thought-provoking. What struck me more than anything was that they made it cool to be intelligent. They didn’t make any apologies for being considered a nerd but instead embraced it. They created an entire community of people (Nerdfighters) who had come together embracing the same ideology and celebrated it. I began to let both my boys watch these videos (after I pre-screened them of course) because I thought that these are people to look up to. As a mother who sees the kids who worship Justin Bieber or Heaven forbid cast members of The Jersey Shore, I was more than thrilled to find two someones who were celebrated for their intellect and kind hearts.

This is when I started reading John Green’s books. Fan seems like such a simple term for my feelings toward this perfect stranger. If there was a hierarchy of fan-hood, whatever that top tier would be & whatever it may be called, that is most certainly what I would be. Well, minus the stalker implications of course. I had found yet another reason for my boys to like this guy. Adam has read “Paper Towns” and I loved talking it over with him. He’s now almost finished with “The Fault In Our Stars”. As a Christmas present, I bought Adam & myself tickets to the Seattle book signing that took place just last night.

At 12 & 31 years of age we definitely did not meet the criteria for the median age at last night’s event. Most people assumed I was just shepherding my son. The first time in my life, I ever felt sort of ancient. Other people assumed my newly turned twelve year old was just a small teenager. I had to laugh at Adam’s response to a seventeen year old girl when she remarked on his age. She was shocked he’d read any of the books. “This is a BOOK SIGNING, isn’t it?”  He was vibrating with excitement. He had a huge smile on his face from the time we got in line outside the book store until we left hours (and hours) later that night. When we finally got a seat in the book store, he just couldn’t be still. It was something you might expect from a kid going to his first concert.

Ok bad example but his mother is a photographer so he obviously hates getting his picture taken … especially when he can’t focus 😉 .

When John Green took the stage, Adam was in awe.

I wish I had taken a photo of Adam’s face because it was just that beautiful. While, it was in part a gift to myself to be there, I had not expected the gift of my son’s joy to eclipse everything else. When Hank Green took the stage, I thought for sure Adam was going to pass out. “Breathe kiddo.” He just looked over at me and laughed. The entire show (for a show is indeed what it was) was made of awesome. By the time it was over and time for signing, our faces hurt from smiling. We waited patiently for section J to be called. Adam fell asleep. He was laying across my lap and I couldn’t help but think about when he was born and how far we’ve both come. I had to wake him to get in line for signing and I could see his nerves. He was going to get to talk to both John & Hank! I was nervous for him. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to say much myself. Really, what do you say?

He walked right up to the table and breathlessly told John Green how he watched the videos. He completely forgot to mention the books. He took pictures with his Nintendo 3DS (which Hank Green reminded him to use in 3D mode) and then just about floated away when his turn was over.

When all was said and done, my son walked out with tears in his eyes and gave me a huge hug. He thanked me for the “best night ever”! We put our new tour CD by Hank Green on in the car and before we even made it out of the parking lot, Adam was asleep. I was so happy to share that experience with him. I will certainly never forget it. Thank you to both John & Hank.

A side note from Adam in case John or Hank ever read this …

“Thank you so much! You were both very nice people in person.” – Adam Wirth