Five winning stories will be selected by a panel of judges, and the winning entrants will each receive an Amazon Kindle 2 as well as Dragon NaturallySpeaking upgrades for three years.
While I have few typing skills and even less ability to spell, I have, for some time now, wanted to write my autobiography so my children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren to be, would know a little something about my past, my thoughts and desires, my feelings about life and my great love for the only woman in my life, my wife.
For the past several years I have used Dragon, Naturally Speaking, to write e-mail, numerous letters and on occasion, lengthy memos for a business I established shortly after retiring. I learned to use it fairly well and I found I enjoyed the option of peering out the window at my yard or closing my eyes and focusing intently on what I intended to articulate; to say nothing of the fact that as I spoke the words went through spell check and came out perfectly.
I knew writing was demanding and tedious and required not only elucidating one's thoughts, but re-writing again and again. I don't believe I am lazy but frankly, I just could not push myself to just sit down and "do it."
My children are all adults and have children and have heard my "stories" over and over again... but not my grandchildren and future family members. My thoughts progressed to my father, a Russian immigrant; he lived a difficult life when very young and never talked about it. I knew nothing of his family, of stories of his growing up, of his dreams and at times, his disappointments. I knew I must write my story.
And so, I experimented. I sat at my computer in my comfortable chair at my desk; I opened Microsoft Word and Dragon. I gazed out my window at the garden below, then closed my eyes and began “speaking” of my mother and father, brother and sisters, the challenges in my life and my love for my wife and family.
At times I spoke directly to my mother and father and brother and sister, who are no longer with us, and to my wife, children and grandchildren, about my most intimate feelings, about the past and what I thought the future might bring.
After some time, I opened my eyes and looked at the screen before me, I saw my thoughts spelled out in written words in front of me. Tears welled up in my eyes; I can do this, I can meet this challenge, in great part because I have the ability to simply speak from my heart and have those thoughts converted to words on paper. What a wonder, this great technology, so simple to use and yet it takes me down the path I have wanted to go for so long.
Starting at the age of eight, my autobiography has progressed through my teenage years, my marriage and now my first child. I have a ways to go and I pray the time to finish.
All this and more … from Dragon. Thank you.