Hello,

Last night someone wrote me an e-mail and when I read it I finally understood why I had a problem with comprehending John's post the other night. It's from my lifetime problem with dyslexia. Most people find as they age the condition wanes for the most part, but it never goes away entirely. For me, I am cognizant of it being at it's worst when I am tired and even greater if I am upset about something.

It is difficult to explain to someone that when you read you don't see all of the words in front of you. It is as if you mind removes them or in some cases perhaps, they seem rearranged. When I was very young I had great difficulty with reading, but if I was asked to read aloud in front of anyone I would not say all of the sentence connecting words such as; the, and, it and so forth. Can you imagine what that must have sounded like? (Can imagine sounded like?) To those who know they have this problem they usually compensate by creating other skills and in my case I memorize almost word or word, every document I read. I also remember odd things such as never forgetting the face of someone I've seen in my life and remembering a person by name if ever introduced to them.

In the big picture, I think people who have this learning disability work very hard to accomplish, being ever reminded of seeming brainless when young and to find they are not. I learned not long ago that Max Wyss suffered from this same learning disability and it is amazing how he became so proficient in math and writing. I asked him not long ago to share some of his stories he wrote years ago because they were some of his best works. This month he did so in offering his story called "Snakes." It is very humorous and the characters are larger than life. If you want to read something light hearted, I highly recommend it. But you should do so soon, as it is getting close to the end of the month.

Petra