First Draft to Published

Who would have thought that texting or Instant Messenger (IM) would replace the important role that kids played in the communication between their parents? Growing up in a generation before e-mail my parents talked to each other by yelling back and forth across the house. Mom yelled from one end of the house to the other but dad being unable to hear through the walls never heard anything after she yelled his name. “Why does your mother have to mumble, does she think I can hear through walls?” grumbled dad. It was up to us kids who heard every word of moms request to tell dad what mom had said. We were expected to send his reply back to mom. “Dad, mom was asking if you wanted spaghetti for dinner.” my brother said. “Tell her that’s fine with me.” replied dad. Of course, my brother yelled it to back to her as he stood next to dad. “Mom,” shouted my brother, “Dad said he was fine with eating spaghetti.” Then unexpectedly my father slapped my brother on the shoulder. “Hey, why did you hi...

“It is never too late to be who you might have been.” George Eliot, writer (1819-1880) Why do we give up on learning and not challenge ourselves to learn more? Is it because learning gets pushed to the bottom of our “To Do” list? How many people have settled for less because they didn’t want or were unwilling to push themselves that extra step to finish a degree, earn a certification or write a novel? We are capable of so much more, but does that voice of doubt hold us back? I have reached my first milestone, completing all lower division Math classes in order to transfer to the University. Yes, it feels good. I have gotten past the hurdle when the voice of doubt would have told me I couldn’t do it and I would have normally dropped Math, being that it was my worst subject. Always, I would promise myself that I would take the classes again later. Well, there comes a point where there are no more next semesters and that voice of doubt begins to sound like a broken record. For all of us ...