I want a secret room in my house!

Ever since I was a small child, I've always absolutely loved to read. The East Liberty branch of the Carnegie Library was at the end of my street. Each Saturday, I would go to the library and spend hours there, my head buried in a book. When I left the library, I would check out the maximum number of books I could and most times finished them before the next Saturday. Because my mother also loved reading, books were a staple in our home. As a result, books often became an escape for me. Not from any bad situation at home, but an escape into a world of vivid imagination. I usually could be found somewhere, hidden away from everybody, curled up in a window seat with my head buried in a book. As children, my siblings and I often would walk to Mellon Park in the East Liberty section of Pittsburgh. On our way, we would stop at the NBC Bakery and get little snack cakes and take them to the park with us. While my brothers and sisters would spend their time on the swings and the slide, I would be laying in the grass, reading. I remember lying beneath a grove of trees, the branches forming a leafy ceiling between me and the sky, reading my latest book. Even today, I can spend hours in a bookstore. I often go to my local Barnes and Nobles, grab a decaf mocha and browse and read for hours. In several of the books I read as a child, there were houses with secret rooms, accessed typically through a panel disguised as a bookcase. These were places where one could escape the villain who was chasing them. Sometimes, it was a secret passage that led out of the house. In the back of my mind, I always wanted to have such a room. I guess it's the little child in me. When I saw the movie Panic Room, I was once again reminded of my lifelong desire to have a secret room in my home. When I build my new home, it won't necessarily have a panic room, but it will have a secret room. It will have a window, a comfortable chair, music and a bookcase. The window will have glass that doesn't permit one to look in from the outside. My grandson and future grandchildren will have a ball hiding in it and their Nana will no doubt spend some time in it, too.

Blessings,
T