Breakthrough

Joe and I have struggled on,
Month after month,
Year after year,
Trying to master the first
Twenty-six letter sounds.

He would read them on one page,
Only to forget them on the next,
And any booklets he got through
Were always a combination of
Guesswork, luck, and memorization.

Yesterday, he read about four sentences.

Today, he read eight new sentences,
A full booklet.
And asked for another one.

After he finished that, I was thrilled.
Incredible. What a difference a day makes,
To read without guessing,
With some hesitation, but mostly confidence,
With techniques he figured out himself
To jog his memory.

Over the years, he had read twenty-two of
Twenty-seen booklets.
With the two more today, now he had read twenty-four.
Only three to go.

When he saw that, his eyes sparkled.
“Let’s do them all!”
He said, enthusiastically.

And he did.