East Nashville Hope Exchange board member Woods Drinkwater shares with us his first memory of literacy. Woods is an attorney serving as a law clerk to the Hon. Joe P. Binkley Jr. in Nashville. He demonstrates for us the powerful connection that can be made between readers: 

I’ve been reading so long it would be a fool’s errand to conjure up the earliest memory I have of sounding out letters to form words and stringing together words to form sentences. I realized early on that reading opened up possibilities of new worlds and new experiences. It was many years into my ability to read, however, before I first understood the real impact of literacy.
 
Literacy, to me, means more than understanding words on a page. Literacy is the door through which we walk the path to communication and understanding. My earliest memory of this kind of communication and understanding comes from a mid-August night. With the first day of third grade right around the corner, it was all I could do to hurriedly finish my summer reading. The final book on my list was Wilson Rawls’ timeless Where the Red Fern Grows. With a heavy sigh on the twilight of summer vacation, I started into it.
 
My mother, also having never read it, suggested we read it together chapter for chapter. Realizing I would only have to read half of the book, I eagerly agreed. And so we set out, determined to read at least a few chapters that evening. What ensued over those next hours taught me nearly everything I know about the power of literacy.
 
Page after page, it became evident that the real experience was not necessarily the story contained within the pages, but the act of reading the chapters aloud to one another. By doing so, we shared a common experience. We paused briefly between chapters to discuss the story and recap the plot. 
 
As the story wore on and it became more difficult to read through each chapter (those of you that are familiar with the story know that a box of Kleenex is an essential accessory to the final act), trading the book back and forth occurred more frequently. By the end of the night, we finished the book. 
 
The simple act of reading a story together taught me what can be shared through literacy. It is more than the meaning of the words on a page -- it is community. Literacy can not only open windows to the outside world, but also can build bridges between readers.

East Nashville Hope Exchange Board Member Kevin Bradley shares with us how he celebrates literacy in his everyday life. Kevin is the Assistant Director of Accounting for the State of Tennessee Treasury Department:
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September 8th is International Literacy Day. It is a day intended to stop and recognize the importance of literacy to us as individuals and to society as a whole. For most of us, reading is something we take for granted. We read signs, magazines, books, websites, and work memos. Every single day we read without ever stopping to think about what our lives would look like or where we would be socially, professionally, or personally without that ability. As part of International Literacy Day I stopped to think, how do I celebrate literacy in my everyday life?

I always hated reading as a child. It was something my teachers and parents forced me to do but I could never understand why it mattered or why everyone acted like it was so important. Unfortunately, this attitude remained in high school and into college. Reading was something I had to do to get through school and pass assignments, but was never something I enjoyed or truly appreciated. It was years after college when I randomly decided I wanted to read a book. I cannot recall why I had the sudden urge or even what book I decided to pick up but regardless, I sat down and started reading. Little did I know that I was embarking on a life-long passion.

I now read dozens of books each year on almost every topic imaginable. Reading gives me the opportunity to learn about topics such as economics, finance, history, leadership and religion, or to simply appreciate a great story. Reading transformed from something I labored to do to something I truly enjoy. By making the choice to pick up that first book, I opened the door to so many new experiences and ideas. Now I can hardly imagine going a day without reading. Each morning as I sit, drinking my morning coffee and reading, I truly appreciate literacy and all the doors it has opened for me.

The way I celebrate literacy every day is by not taking that ability for granted and by choosing to make reading a priority in my life. How do you celebrate literacy?