Success-amundo!

The misery of my education does not affect my adult life. I can sew beautiful quilts, knit scarves, cook delicious food, and do just about anything on the computer. I can run a business. All of these skills have been self-taught. When I join a committee, I somehow end up being the chairman. My checkbook stays balanced, I love books, and I can follow a map and rarely get lost. Unless we have a time schedule or I need to speak a foreign language, I’d say I’m successful at being a confident adult.  Until now, my adult friends had no idea about my difficulties in school, .

Without a clock, I have no idea what time it is, or how much time has passed. It’s like my time measurer has broken, a skill I have never posessed. I’m easily sidetracked, and without feeling the difference between five minutes and a half hour, arriving on time is always a challenge.

When I was a child, Catholic Mass was still being said in Latin with the priest's back to the congregation, lest he turn his back on the Holy Cross.  I learned Latin in parochial school, then French in junior high, and finally Spanish and then 1st year French again in high school. “Madame Grek” (Mrs. Greek), was my high school French teacher. It was hard to learn French when the teacher wouldn't translate; "total immersion", she refused to speak English to her students, even if we bumped into each other in the grocery store. I was glad for the rudimentary French I already had. Mdme Greek would dramatically wave a silk scarf in her hand with each word she uttered, as daily (really!) she wept about the beauty of France. I’d like to blame my foreign language skills on crazy teachers. I can say parts of Latin Mass and count to 100 in either French or Spanish. Although I can understand these languages, making a sentence in the correct language is impossible, as I mix them all together: “Toute el caritas Dei, arriver a la escuela at uno heure es imposible. Kyri eleison para moi”. Loosely translated, I think what I just said (purposely in 3 languages) is, “Even with the help of God, arriving at school at one o’clock is impossible. Have mercy on me!” This language can be best described as SPLENCH.