When I was growing up, I learned how to travel to and from where I lived in Prince George’s County, Maryland, to my grandfather’s place in Aquasco. My grandfather’s name was George Washington England Reeder (now deceased). I would help him with his grocery list and with writing messages to his colleagues. I often transcribed for him.
He would spell his words out alphabetically and would also
tell me to write down the numbers for inventories. I remember how he would pronounce the sounds of different words and tell me whether those sounds were vowels or syllables or prefixes or suffixes. He would also ask me to clarify if I understood what he said. And then I would take the lists I wrote for him to the grocery store or the post office in Aquasco and they would fill his orders. He mostly used a white piece of paper and a pencil to write in print.
I remember how I used to wait until orders were completed by people filling out forms for stock items. I paid for these items with money from my grandfather and carried them back to him.
I am still learning more about my past each day and hope to learn more about my grandfather. He helped me learn the alphabet and how to count. And both these skills are part of my everyday life.
