Laughter..the best sound of all...

I was reading the magazine, when I heard my husband who is sitting near by, laughing..  I look over and he is so enjoying his book.  I look back at my magazine again… and a few minutes past, and he is laughing again.
Saying softly, “those boys are crazy”… and laughs again. He was so enjoying his book.  The book? Tom Sawyer.

You see, my husband has had a hard time reading for years. He could read simple things, but long letters, books and etc. over whelmed him. He had a illness when he was about 8 or 9. He could not breathe and they had to do a tracheotomy. During that time, it effected his learning how to read well. That and another reason, which I won’t discuss here.  So reading has always been a hardship for him.

He took some lessons years ago with a retired teacher, but the teacher had to leave town about 3 months later.. and there wasn’t a follow up. That was about 15 years ago.. 

So last year, I told him, he has to do something about this. That I wouldn’t always be there to help him.  He bite the bullet and we went down to the library and talked to a woman there.. Who was really wonderful to the King, and put him at ease.  Then she called back a couple weeks later and said she had a teacher.

That started a wonderful friendship and union of teacher and student. This woman has the patience of Job.  And here we are a year later… and the King is loving reading. He has worked so hard. And he is starting to reap the pleasure of his work. While he has worked on small books, this new book is the first full fledge book that he has attempted.  He loves it.. and watching him and talking to him as he explains that is going on in the pages he is reading.. is so wonderful.

What he has worked so hard to do, is what we take for granted.

This has given him pride in his work. It has help his self-esteem greatly. I am so proud of this man. It took a lot of guts to admit he could not read well. It took a lot to show up that first month, when he thought he was hopeless. He has

come so far.  And to listen to him laugh as he read.. it is the most precious sound of all. 

Thank you, Sparrow, for the gift you have given him.. Thank you for your patience.