7 Days of Gratitude: Day 1...Literacy

It's time to count my blessings. Like I could ever count them all....

I remember back in second grade when Mrs. Frost told our class that if you can read, you can do anything. How true that is.

Until I started working at TWH, I generally assumed that everybody could read, short of having suffered a traumatic brain injury. It's 2008, for Heaven's sake. Every child has the right to a free and appropriate public education. No Child Left Behind, right?

Then I encountered some people who truly struggled to read. Did you know that 50% if teen moms are illiterate? What an eye opener for me. I began to truly notice how often I utilized my literacy skills every day, and I quickly became more empathetic for those people who cannot read on a functional level.

Looking up a number in the phone book. Reading dosage instructions on medication labels. Finding your way around in a large hospital when every hallway looks the same. Ordering from a menu in an unfamiliar restaurant. Understanding an important contract... How awkward, stressful, and possibly dangerous these situations are for someone who cannot read!

I am so thankful to be able to read.