In the Beginning...

It began on a cold windy night in Eastern Japan; Sendi; 1997. My mother opened up the story of the Cat that was afraid of everything, vacuum cleaners, cars, brooms until the end when it had to face it's fears to save it's owner's baby. That was the first book I remember looking at and recognizing words with the ability to sound them out. My literacy was difficult, because I was learning how to read and write Japanese at the same time that, developmentally, I should have been learning how to read and write English. My brain had to do both at once, subsequently I was a little behind when I moved to America in first grade. But both of my parents always read to me, in both languages. I think because I had to learn to read/write both languages I was constantly stimulating that section of my brain, in part, I became a stronger linguist.