Many folks know Linda Deffenbaugh. She and her husband, John, have lived on Lookout Mountain for 50 years, raising two sons. Linda taught at Chattanooga Christian School and Lookout Mountain School and continues to tutor and sub when needed. An empty nester with four grandsons, Linda managed to forge a close relationship with these boys despite how many miles were between them.
“In an effort to stay close to my grandsons living almost 2,000 miles away in Colorado and Utah, I began reading to them from an early age over the telephone. What started as our regular reading nights continued, much to my amazement, into their college years, transcending from children’s books to textbooks at the college level. Relationships grew as we read page by page over the telephone for over two decades, Linda explained.
Linda always kept her plate full, fully involved in a teaching career, traveling and supporting her husband after he was elected a representative to the Georgia State House. And front and foremost, building important relationships over the telephone with her grandsons. At some point, a fellow LMS colleague suggested Linda write about how those relationships evolved and grew all via the telephone and reading.
“However full my agenda, a seed had been planted that grew a little more as I encountered numerous social functions within the political realm that allowed me to interact with people from all walks of life. On several occasions, while in Atlanta accompanying John with state business, I would be especially interested when an acquaintance would share their concern about a lack of relationship between their children and grandparents due to geographical distance. One friend explained, ‘My parents live in Connecticut. The distance is too great for a close relationship. Out of sight, out of mind.’ Then, when I shared my solution, she suggested, ‘You should write about that; I would like to know more.’”
With that encouragement, Linda began to write about her experiences, including the time she told an LMS faculty member that she had just spent $15 to send her grandson a 79-cent box of lozenges because of the overnight delivery. Incredulous, the friend asked why she would do that, and Linda explained that the night before, during reading night, her grandson was coughing and she suggested he try a lozenge. The 3-year-old had never had a lozenge, but her grandmother made sure they were in his little hands the next day.
“Reading Nights: Growing Relationships Page by Page” is the recounting of a journey that I took to grow relationships with my loved ones far away. In it, I explore different books, tips, and strategies for regular long-distance reading nights. My grandsons are now all in colleges across the United States and Canada. Yet, we stay close anywhere. It is my hope that by sharing my journey, it could become yours as well,” Linda said.
The paperback copies are $12.95 and are available on Amazon, as are e-books and hardback copies.
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Ferris Robinson is the author of three children’s books, “The Queen Who Banished Bugs,” “The Queen Who Accidentally Banished Birds,” and “Call Me Arthropod” in her pollinator series “If Bugs Are Banished.” “Making Arrangements” is her first novel. “Dogs and Love - Stories of Fidelity” is a collection of true tales about man’s best friend. Her website is ferrisrobinson.com and you can download a free pollinator poster there. She is the editor of The Lookout Mountain Mirror and The Signal Mountain Mirror.
Ferris Robinson is the author of three children’s books, “The Queen Who Banished Bugs,” “The Queen Who Accidentally Banished Birds,” and “Call Me Arthropod” in her pollinator series “If Bugs Are Banished.” “Making Arrangements” is her first novel. “Dogs and Love - Stories of Fidelity” is a collection of true tales about man’s best friend. Her website is ferrisrobinson.com and you can download a free pollinator poster there. She is the editor of The Lookout Mountain Mirror and The Signal Mountain Mirror.
Ferris Robinson