Antidisestablishmentarianism

So I’m going to try to do the ABC’s of gratitude this year. I sat down sometime in September and wrote 26 words to use. They just popped into my head & I typed them on the page. Perhaps someone will want to use these words as a psychology project to study the inside of my head. But probably not. They’re so random I’m pretty sure there’s no deep meaning. It’s going to be fun to come up with a coherent thought about what the word has to do with thanksgiving. Without further ado, here’s the first one.

Antidisestablishmentarianism When I was a child I was pretty shy. I didn’t like talking to strangers or being in new situations. However, with my family it was a whole ‘nother matter. If a situation didn’t have two sides to it I made one up just so I could argue the opposite side. My freshman (or was it sophomore?) year in high school I signed up for journalism as my elective. But my uncle Johnny, who taught English in my school, convinced me to switch to the debate class because I seemed so well-suited to it. Heh. So I did. And while I decided that my mind wasn’t quick and flexible enough to debate I learned to write and give speeches. In strange places. In front of strange people. I wasn’t super duper fabulous, but in the same way that piano lessons taught me the valuable life skill of reading music, original oratory taught me how to walk into a room and not feel like shrinking up against the wall. I might go so far as to say that taking that class taught me how to go to college by myself with no friends, and to go to Zambia by myself (that’s kind of a long plane ride from NC, in case you wondered). And I learned to say antidisestablishmentarianism really fast. Saying tongue twisters was the best part of the class. Really!

So my first ABC of gratitude is a big Thank You to my Uncle Johnny for getting me prepared to live in the world with other human beings and actually talk to them.