After Mr. Gordon told this story out loud in class, the other seniors and I asked him what the title was.
He said, simply: “Life.”
“Life?” We asked. No one else had come up with something so bold before.
“Life,” he confirmed. Just like that. And I thought, That’s what real courage sounds like. That was the first time Mr. Gordon came to class, and already, at that instant, he got my total respect.
Arline Gordon
5/13/10
Life
I’d like to talk about life because life is so interesting. I grew up in a family of 11 children. I was raised by my mother, father, and grandfather. One thing that was interesting about Grandpa was that he always checked our homework. He’d say, “This is right, this is not right.” It wasn’t till he has passed and we were talking years later that somebody said, “Grandpa couldn’t read”. And I said “What? Say that again?” But you know, it didn’t matter that he couldn’t read. He was always able to make us do our homework.
I grew up in a fun-loving and caring family. I enjoyed meal times because we talked with one another. We didn’t have a lot of money but we had love. And that’s something I’d like to see come back to the American family.