Katie's Story

Katie is a short, quiet widow with an indomitable spirit. Last summer, at age 73, she remodeled her kitchen and replaced the ceiling without help from anyone. Her apartment is her castle, and it is filled with pictures of John, her husband of 46 years, and of her family. At home, she keeps the TV on so she can hear the sound of people’s voices.

Three times a week, Katie heads to the Kenny School in Dorchester where she serves as an Experience Corps volunteer. She helps children who are struggling to read. She sits next to them and helps them sound out words… “bike,” “flavor,” “balloon.” She asks them questions to make sure they understand the story. She laughs with them at the funny parts.

The kids love her – and with good reason. She’s kind and has a nice laugh. She buys the big, fuzzy stickers they like. She sews special graduation caps for all of them every spring. She remembers their birthdays.

Katie first read with Cassie four years ago, when she was in the second grade. She couldn’t read well and did everything she could to avoid it. She squirmed in her chair. She twisted her pigtails into knots. She squeezed her face into a nasty grimace and looked out the window. But Katie stuck with her. Twice each week, she sat by her side and opened up a book. She helped Cassie get her fingers out of her hair and onto the page. She read the words in really funny voices to get Cassie to laugh. After each session, she gave Cassie the biggest, fuzziest stickers.

By January, the sessions weren’t so painful. By the end of the school year, Cassie was no longer afraid to read. She still couldn’t do it well, but she was learning to like books.

Over the summer, Katie developed a close relationship with Cassie’s family. It started when Cassie’s mom called our office. “We want to invite Katie to Cassie’s First Communion,” she said. “She has to be there. She’s the one who made Cassie love to read!” After the ceremony, they had the first of many dinners together, which have since become a tradition. And they always read at least one story.

When school started again, Cassie was ready. In October, she pronounced “supermarket” correctly on the first try. In January, she used all of her vocabulary words in a single, clever sentence. By March she was reading Dr. Seuss with the cadence of a professional. When the program ended in June, Cassie was reading better than most of her classmates.

Now, four years later, Katie and Cassie’s family are still close, even though Cassie is a solid reader and graduated from the program long ago. Katie is busy helping Cassie prepare for life in middle school. And often she has the entire family over to her house for dinner, where they admire her new kitchen.

She still talks about her husband often, and looks forward to seeing him in heaven. In the meantime she says, “I may have lost my John for a while, but I’ve gained a new family.”