I remember when my mom worked at Grand Lanes Bowling Alley in old Hayward. I enjoyed working with her in the children’s day care play room. When I was old enough I joined the junior bowling league on Saturday morning. Learning to bowl was a lot of fun and I was good at it. The captain had the best bowlers compete with the coaches and I won a prize when I beat the coach. I went to several tournaments and we bowled all over the east bay. I won many pins and trophies in the

Hi my name is Jerome. This is my story of living with a secret. The secret is not knowing how to read and write. When I was a young boy in elementary school I was teased a lot. We all went to regular class. I had to go to a special class, too, but I did not want anybody to see me. I snuck in the classroom. All my school years I was hiding my secret. I would come in late. I would not want my sports mates to know my secret. I graduated from high school still keeping my secret.