“I even make my sandwich backwards. I put my bottom piece here and my bun here. And then whenever I eat it, my bottom piece is on top. Everything I do is backwards.

My dream was to be a game warden so I could help wildlife. But when I figured out I was dyslexic and couldn’t read, I knew that wasn’t going to happen. School and words were complicated. Everything was backwards. 

We tried Hooked on Phonics and everything in school. I can sound the word out and put it together, then it goes back to backwards. It switches all the way back up. It ain’t just the reading. It’s life.

I’ve got a good memory and can tell stories. But I’d like to read a book and put it through my eyes and let it go through my ears. I want that feeling of reading.

But angles, shapes, anything to do with numbers–I can knock it out. I’m also OCD. Everything has to be just right. If it ain’t just right, then I’m going to go back over it. By the time I get it right, I’ll know how it goes. I’ll never forget. Good enough isn’t an option. It’s got to be the best I can do. OCD helps me through dyslexia and keeps me in a good spirit.

I’m not able to run off and leave a pile of wood for another person to move it. I always tell my kids to think about the person behind them. The trash bag is full. Put another trash bag in it for the next person. 

I work for Topeka, and we just built their new music venue from scratch. It’s been in my eyes the whole time. Here, I’m a carpenter, plumber, and can work with water, grass, sod and lights. Out here, I help everyone, and I’ve taught them something. Maybe dyslexia makes this better because my brain works differently. There’s more than one way to do things. You can put the bottom bun on the top, and it’s still a sandwich.

I’ve got 12 kids. Eight girls of my own. I have two stepdaughters and stepsons. I didn’t have much of a dad or mom. And I think that’s what makes me try so hard being a dad.

My youngest daughter went through a car fire two years ago. Her mama and sister died. She’s ten now with two prosthetic legs and a prosthetic arm. Every day I watch her wake up, go to school, and deal with herself. I’ve got everything, and things are hard for me, so just imagine how hard it is going to be for her. But she ain’t got no worry in the world. If she can do it, everybody else can. I hold it together for her.

I’m a good person, so I can go to heaven and hug my daughter who died one more time and hear her say ‘Daddy.’ That’d be the biggest miracle. Hug your loved ones while you have them.

Right now, my happiness will be when I get to bring my wife and baby girl down here in this place I helped build.  I’ll get to sit on one of those chairs, look at my wife and my little baby girl, and see them hearing some music and smiling. That will make me happy.”

Chris