I can only shake my head and wonder how I got through all the crazy things I did in one piece. Alive. When I was 15, my mom stayed on pins and needles every time I left the house. Even when I went to school she worried. Guess I had more energy than focus in those days. Guess, also, it was just a matter of time when I’d find myself in hot water up to my neck. But before winding up in prison for a robbery that netted me a 20-year sentence, I did something that nearly got me killed at age 17.
I was standing around with some friends and thought I’d impress them by snatching a gold chain off a woman’s neck. Soon as I pulled it from her neck and started running, I heard her yelling into a walkie-talkie and realized she was a cop, a decoy. I ran for my life, chain stuffed in my pocket. Jumped on a train from Brownsville, Brooklyn and headed out to Manhattan. Once there, I found my way to a pawn shop where a Jamaican brother took the chain I’d handed to him and examined it under a blue light. He returned seconds later and said the chain wasn’t gold, it was fake. That day I should have tried to curb my behavior. I didn’t. Instead I found myself in prison staring at years on the inside.
I briefly got a job in the mess hall before becoming a clerk in the library. I had never been a reader until I got that library gig. From there, I went from one novel to another. I was saved by books the way some people are saved by the church or mosque. You might say the library was my house of religion. I got the library job by asking the civilian librarian if there was an opening. He said there would be in two weeks. Two weeks go by and I’m in the best job I could dream of (in prison).
I’ve had difficulty with the pronunciation of words, so I sat down with the dictionary often. If I could tell anyone about how a particular book transformed my life, I’d say the dictionary. It taught me about the nuance and subtle differences between words. It also taught me how words behave in real sentences. The dictionary became a close friend, a tutor, and it still is. I gained a huge amount of confidence with words and how I speak and communicate with the world. And it all began with my love of books in general and the dictionary in particular. So, for the man or woman who wants to simply improve their diction, their ability to communicate effectively, study the dictionary for the precision that will give you the power it gave to me.
When I was finally released from prison a decade ago I went out and bought a dictionary that didn’t just sit on my home office desk. I used it to be the quiet force to reshape my future. Each new word l continued to learn gave me more than a definition—it gave me confidence, clarity, true vision, and control over my own life story. As my vocabulary continues to grow, so does my courage to speak, to question, and to dream beyond the limits I once accepted. What began as a simple curiosity became a pivotal turning point in my life, proving that language is not merely a tool for communication, but a key to transformation. Through the power of words, I didn’t just improve my vocabulary, I changed my life.