The Legacy of the late Gordon Suits
“I have sought to occupy my time volunteering my talents to help those in need. When I learned that 25% of the U.S. population is illiterate, I joined ReadWest and I have been challenged, changed and happy with the thought that I have made a difference in someone’s life.
I am thankful that you came along at this time in my life, a time when I hope to contribute something that will help someone or make a difference in someone’s life that will live on after I’m gone.
Gordon Suits”
Mr. Suits was an outstanding tutor with ReadWest for over twelve years. He was seventy-seven years young when he became a volunteer tutor. Age didn’t matter to him. He had cancer; he was not going to let that stop him. His wife developed Alzheimer’s; he did the cleaning, he did the cooking, he helped feed her, he helped her take a shower and get her dressed and there were even times when he applied her makeup. All that in his life and yet he made time to teach people how to read. Why? Because he’s a volunteer and he knows through giving one receives.
Mr. Suits was a man, who encouraged others to set their goals — take action on those goals — and become the best they can be.
He was a husband, father, tutor, mentor, best friend and now he is our guardian angel. Gordon passed away on January 18, 2007.
The Lesson
Gordon was my tutor for over nine years. He was very creative and adjusted his teaching to each student. He was directly responsible for teaching me how to read and write; he was directly responsible for my success.
Mr. Suits was a loving family man and valued his time. “Marten, this is your choice to learn how to read. I don’t have time to waste. I’ll work with you as long as you want, however, if you don’t do your part I will fire you. Understood?”
He was brilliant, he was kind hearted. I accepted his no nonsense approach toward teaching. I understood.
When I started with ReadWest I was reading at a fifth grade level. It was during my first meeting with Gordon that he had me read out loud. Here are his findings: He noticed I could read the small words but had trouble pronouncing many of the larger words. I was not observing the punctuation marks. And I was stopping where there were no punctuation marks. I was saying words that were not written and I was leaving out some of the smaller words. When he asked me to explain what I had read, I had no idea.
Learning to read was the goal. I learned how to listen — I learned how to be responsible for myself — as my self confidence increased, my ability to learn increased — discipline was a key factor to my learning
The Results
Literacy has become the key that opens the mind to a constantly changing life. It’s the application of literacy that gives me the ability to cultivate a joyous life. It’s through applying literacy that we are free to live our life in peace and harmony with our fellow man, our family and ourselves.
The gift of literacy provides my greatest reward: Gratitude! Applying gratitude has been a valuable and essential tool against variable thoughts that sometimes question my very being.
It’s through gratitude I learned to say thank you for the most stressful of times. I learned to say thank you for all my problems. I learned to say thank you for all my difficult emotional feelings. Gratitude makes sense of my past. Gratitude brings me peace and joy for today. Gratitude creates a vision for tomorrow.
The most wonderful gift is people helping people. The adult literacy tutors and students of the world are receiving and benefiting from each other’s good will.
New Mexico Coalition for Literacy, thank you, for the wonderful opportunity to represent the “Outreach and Support Literacy Tour” And thank you Verizon Foundation for the grant that made it all possible. The seed has been planted and I ask all those involved in literacy to come and grow with us. Together we are making a difference.
And! And! And Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas to each and every one of you and Happy New Year!
You are special, you are kind and you are making a difference in someone’s life. Each one of you is leaving a legacy of love: People helping people.
A special thank you to Heather Heunermund Executive Director of the New Mexico Coalition for Literacy, the NMCL staff and Virginia Pulver, AmeriCorps *VISTA Recruitment Consultant for making the “Outreach and Support Literacy Tour” the best it could be.
Marten Griego, an advocate for literacy
