Thinking That One Day I Will Read Great

      As a young boy, maybe four or five, I can remember looking at a pop machine and thinking, “Someday I’m going to read.” I started first grade when my family was going through some very hard times. I went to three or four different schools, all in the first grade. So I was always behind. Come to think about it, I didn’t have any idea what was going on in school.

    I came from a family of eight kids. I am number six. I went to school for 14 years. I have a high school diploma but the sad thing is that l would still have a hard time reading a second grade book I got out of school and was called on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I couldn’t read so the mission was a hard two years. So I ended up helping to build churches on my mission.

     I came home from my mission and like everyone else, I started my life looking for a job that I could do. I was very physical, not a big man about 5’8 165 pound, so I could do labor jobs. But one thing to think of when you can’t read or write: it is very hard to move up in a job know matter how hard you work or how long you at a job.

  I have raised a family, have a nice house, I drive good vehicles, and got along okay. I was working hard one day and made a bad step. I fell 16 feet and broke my back in four places. I got up tried to work, but the harder I tried, the worse it got. After I healed, I tried to go back to labor work three times, but by day’s and week’s end I couldn’t move. My laboring days were over.

     So I came to Bridgerland Literacy to work on my reading I had seen an ad in the paper. I knew it was lost cause. I’d been so long trying to do things without reading; for 40 years and still was at the second grade level in reading. I have been so long trying to do things without reading; it was like a bad habit. It was so hard to sit down with a book and fight with the words to make sense out of them.

    

    We started working on the alphabet sounds and letter blends. I had to work on then over and over again. There was a lot of repetition go on for me. Phonics has helped me a lot to be able to sound out words, and the there are word that are just sight words. But over time, I’m winning. I’m not a good reader but I can pick up a book and read it. But it is like anything else in life:  you have to stick with it.

   The old words you love and the new words are like new pictures you would like to sit and look at, but there is a better one a line or two away. A lot of words just don’t stay with me so it’ a repetition, it has taken years, so it’s not a day or month thing for me. It’s an everyday thing. I wished it could be a quick fix, but for me it is a daily maintenance. Reading is something I have to do it every day and I have to go over some words time and time again.

   Over the last few years I’ve written a few short stories for Bridgerland Literacy’s newsletter. One was about turkey hunt and another was a fishing trip. I wrote a short story call “Oh If I Could Read a Good Book” for a contest celebrating the 15^th anniversary of Bridgerland Literacy. It was published in the Logan Herald journal. It took first place and my teacher and I were very happy with that accomplishment.

   My teachers put a lot of work and time into tutoring me, and a lot has come out it for me. I am a very special guy. A lot has been locked in me because of my illiteracy. In the last year and a half I have read a lot. I have read three book from Russell freeman (Brother, Lincoln and Cowboys). I have read Where the Hear Is. Then I read a book called Centennial by James Michener. It had over 1060 pages in it and a lot of hard words but I stayed with it because I like it. I wanted to find out what would happen next. I have read the work and the glory Volumes 1 throw 11 each volume takes me about a mouth to read throw them. Being able to read helps me to find the facts for myself. I’ve always wanted to do that.

I’m a big outdoorsman. In 1998 I shot a large buck with very unusual antlers and it was what the outdoorsman would say it a keeper. A picture of the buck is in 2005 a wild life calendar. Recently, the editor of a wildlife magazine saw the picture and contacted me to write the story of how I harvested the enormous deer. It was about 600 words long. I was surprised that it was printed and very pleased with how it looked. I bought a copy of the magazine for each of my kids and one for myself. The name of the magazine is Hunting Illustrated and it was in February/March of 2005

   I have come a long ways in the last few years. I still have a long ways to go. A special thanks to all the people and tutors at Bridgerland Literacy thanks again.