My Love of the Written Word

The words jumped out at me, I understood them, I cherished them. “Run, Spot, run,” and “Go, Jack, go.” A happy time when I found out I could read. I couldn’t get enough of the wonderful world of reading. I wanted to know what Spot and Jane were up to and cherished the beloved characters. The cacophony of characters described using letters, letters that made sense to me. It was like learning a new language for the first time. I was permitted entry to a secret world filled with adventure.

            I couldn’t wait to get home and take out a small blackboard, about 24 by 24 inches, and start writing on the small board with chalk what I learned in school. I was teaching my sister Penny who was one year and two weeks younger than me and she happened to be a very good student. She sat and sounded out words with me. We made a game of it. My mother saw what fun were having and kept me in chalk. I would spend my afternoons teaching my sister everything I was learning at school. I discovered I loved to teach at a young age and had a lot to share with my willing student.

            The afternoons were filled with awe and wonder. I was amazed at how much I remembered. My sister was hungry for information and my teachings made an otherwise somewhat boring afternoon into something interesting and fun. We both loved learning new things. I would read books to her and tell her what the things were called in the pictures. We were both filled with awe and wonder.

             A few years went by and we decided we had a handle on the English language so we decided one day to develop our own language complete with swear words. We diligently worked on our new language. We were on a secret mission and could not let the enemies our parents, aunts and uncles in on our mission. It was just between Penny and I. The word that sticks in my mind the most is “kolacoleeka.” That was our main swear word. We said it so much that one day my mom told us to stop saying it. We stared at each other in astonishment because we thought we actually created a real word. Looking back at that moment, our mother was probably sick of hearing it.

            My sister and I were very competitive so we had developed a plan on how to get the better of the other. We would say something and then say the most amount of times, times the most amount of times, plus one. The one who said that first won the argument. You have to hand it to us, we were creative.

            I think I know where we got our strange form of creativity from which was from our dad. He would have the craziest punishments sometimes. If we weren’t getting along, he would have us sit facing each other and we were told we could not say a word. It didn’t take us long before we tried to get away with talking to each other without our dad catching us.

            Our dad bought us books, books about historical figures such as Helen Keller and a whole set of encyclopedias. I would spend hours reading these books when I was older. I felt so sorry for Helen when she lost her hearing and sight. I would get lost in the world of characters described on the pages of books, placing myself in their worlds. I could not wait to learn the secrets that unfolded for me between the outer covers of a book. I still feel the same way.

            My sister met Vicky when she was attending college in Kalamazoo. Vicky, as a small child lying on the carpeted floor, would stare drooling at magazines for long periods of time. She ended up preparing advertisements for magazines when she was an adult. What we do as children may very well follow us into adulthood.

            It probably does not surprise you, but I was placed in honor English courses in high school. I had a very good teacher, Mrs. Schact. In class, we examined closely the inner workings behind the “Grapes of Wrath.” She was looking forward to my essay on the use of colorization in “The House of Seven Gables.” Because I was so well read, I did very well in my English classes which carried out into my college classes. I asked an English teacher if my topic could be “androgyny.” He was surprised and told me he was looking forward to reading my paper.

            Today, I have the opportunity to teach at Bay Mills Community College and I am an author covering different topics. I thoroughly enjoy teaching, reading and writing. I still pick up a book and hold it wondering what secrets I will learn between the covers of the book. I consider all my books treasures and I still get lost in the lives of the characters in the books. My life has been greatly enriched by my love of the written word.