My father is an honorable man who served his country and paid a high price for it. As a result, he can barely read or write. As a Marine who served in Vietnam he took a bullet in the chest for our freedom.
O regards her grandfather, whom she refers to as Bapa, as somewhat bigger than life (perhaps he is considering his size and what he went through). Through different conversations she has learned about his lack of reading ability. It seems it has perplexed her, but I didn't realize the extent until some more recent conversations.
As with most kids, O's kindergarten year has provided her the opportunity to learn how to read words and sentences, not all, but she's gaining more and more every day. Then, over the holidays, Bapa came to visit. Believe me, Bapa can tell stories (whoppers … most of which are not for children), but has a hard time reading them so he leaves that to others. One day, O and my dad were having lunch. She looked up at him with her big blue eyes and said, "Bapa, out of all of my friends, all of my family, you are the only person one who doesn't know how to read." He thought it cute as she said it with such honesty.
However, now my father thinks kindergarten SUCKS! So does war.
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