My dear friends, I must confess a true curse that nags at me every waking moment - I absolutely, no matter how hard I try, without question can't spell to save my life.

I discovered the curse when I was very young. I have always had a passion to write even as a child. I can remember writing stories and poems for my parents, but only using the first letter of each word. To me, whatever I wrote was completely understandable. I just couldn't figure out why others had such a hard time reading my exquisite masterpieces.
My mom spent countless days trying to get me to sound words out, memorize the way letters can be put together, but no matter how hard she tried I just couldn't get it.

It was the day of a huge spelling test. I had memorized each word I thought would be on that test. With my palms sweating and my heart racing I was about to embark on a journey into the 3rd grade, where I would come face-to-face with my curse. Needless to say, I didn't pass that spelling test and I blame it on the word 'because.'

The other day I was talking to my friends and I realized as beautiful as the English language is, it also causes extreme problems for me. There are so many words that either mean the same thing or sound the same, or sometimes mean something completely different. 'Where and were,' or 'there, their, and they're, 'than or then.' To add even more thrill to this confusing mixture there are proper and stricter ways in which to use these perplexing beasts like 'lay, laid, and laying,' 'use, or used,' and 'woman, or women.'

It appears Hooked on Phonics did NOT work so great for me, and Sesame Street as much as I loved it, was not so effective in solving this predicament for me either.

At work my boss and other coworkers have realized and come to terms with the fact that I can't spell. Their days of reading my emails are filled with a sort of 'fill-in-the-blank,' yet questionable and not and completely understandable sense, or to say it simply; they just get by.

Many people tease me because my major in college was Journalism with a minor in English. However they question, did I ever get through school? A Journalism major they say, who definitely, utterly, and unquestionably can't spell a word. I just look at them, shrug my shoulders and say that I used a lot of dictionaries and many proofreaders later I graduated. I also give thanks to the spell-check feature that the Microsoft people so graciously provided with their programs.

Although I got to tell you, as much love that I have for the spelling feature, it still doesn't always provide security and piece of mind for me. It sometimes leaves me hanging in embarrassment; as it doesn't pick up on words with multiply meanings. For this my curse continues onward.

So this is me my friends; a writer who can't spell, a Journalism major who misplaces grammar, and an English minor who doesn't understand the language. Yet, though hard work and real dedication I prevailed, got a degree and am blessed to be able to make words dance on a sheet of white paper.

The struggles in life can yield to great challenges and many long roads, but if you believe you can do something and you begin to fall, may you learn to fly.