My Soul Tossed Away

A memoir from my childhood

Photoshop digital art created by the author

I began school in Virginia, where my father was stationed in the Navy at Norfolk. I failed the first grade. I didn’t learn to read because I would get bored or distracted with lessons and just jump up to grab paper and crayons with which to draw — and that first teacher would simply let me do that. In fairness, the teacher was riding herd over upwards of fifty other first graders all…