Joe Buford (JB): Nobody in my family really knew how bad it was with me and how hurt I was over it. My wife did not know until after we was married. Some mail came one day and normally she'd tell me what came and what needed to be paid. But this time she gave it to me and said, 'Here, read this.'

And so she found out that I couldn't just read something from top to bottom. That tore my heart out. And at this point I was working in the shop that repaired construction equipment and they wanted to give me a desk job. And I knowed I couldn't do this. I would lay awake at night trying to figure out how can I tell them I didn't want the job. And so I told them that I was satisfied with what I was doing.

Most of the time I would try and just stay in the background because I just didn't feel worthy of being up front for anything.

Michelle Miller (MM): Do you remember when you first found out you were gonna have a baby? What did it feel like?

JB: Well, I was excited about it and at the same time I thought what was wrong with me would be passed on to my kids. And I was so afraid that they weren't gonna learn to read.

The biggest thing I was afraid of was the child getting up into my lap and asking me to read something to her. It just terrified me. So one day I asked both of them could they read and they said, 'Yes. We can't remember when we couldn't.'

This just made me feel so happy that what was wrong with me I didn't pass it on to them.

MM: You and I have been working together for three years now, I think.

JB: Almost three, right.

MM: Yeah. What made you decide that you wanted to try and learn to read?

JB: Well, after both of my girls are married and gone. I thought now's the time I really need to do something for myself. And I thought, well, I'm gonna give it a year. If I can't pick up anything, I'll know it's just not for me.

MM: Do you remember when you realized that you really were picking it up?

JB: Uh, yes, I jumped up. I ran through the house. It made me cry. And I'm thinking, 'Wow! It really is sinking in.' It was the best thing ever happened to me. You have changed my life.

MM: Well, you've changed mine too. I'm looking forward to the next 5 or 10 or however many years that we still have to work together.

JB: So am I.

MM: It's gonna be fun.

JB: I'm looking forward to it.