Aedan Frazer ‘23 was an avid reader growing up, and that stemmed from his parents, father Jesse ’92 and mother Milena.
Milena is a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) nurse at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center in Hartford, which has a campaign going on now called the Tiny Tales Reading Program.
So Aedan is leading the effort at Xavier to collect books, either new or used ones in good condition. They can be dropped off this week at the donation box by the front entrance. You can also donate cash to be used toward new books by visiting the Main Office.
“It’s a good opportunity to help,” Aidan said.
Between a box that was set up at Cromwell’s Belden Library and social media, Aedan has already seen 150 books collected, which have been given to families.
“Reading is such a good thing,” Milena said, “and this encourages reading. I think that is where Aidan comes in. We were a book-rich family and we read a lot to Aidan and Jesse [Class of 2020 and now a freshman at UConn]. You don’t realize it but you’re fortunate to be able to buy books, to have books, to read books and know it’s such a good and important thing to do with your kids growing up. Part of the Tiny Tales program is to give families things that are useful like books and explain what a difference reading makes even to a baby. It can improve their language, their brain development.”
Aidan was the type of kid who had to be told to shut the lights off and stop reading. Now he looks into the future and would like to be an engineer.
“For some books are a luxury and they shouldn’t be,” Milena said.
Working in a NICU is intense, but after 23 years she still say this: “It’s the best job ever … honestly, I can’t believe they pay me.” She also knows that for parents it can be stressful in the NICU and reading books can take their mind other places, all the while helping their child.