Happy Lefties Day from a Leftie!

As a left handed who had a real hard time learning cursive, I learned to work around my smudge. Smudge? Yes righties, that's something you aren't familiar with but if know a Leftie well enough you know our left pinkies live with an ink smudge on them when we write by hand.  But this smudge becomes a signature, almost a trademark in the life of a Leftie who deals with many things you may have never thought of.  For example, a teacher in middle school singled out left handed students stating we graded poorly because we had a learning disability. My own grandma and Dad, being from Spain, tried to correct my natural tendency to write and use my left hand for everything. My Dad learned he was wrong, my grandma was too old to understand, but my Mother defended my left hand from day 1. You see, My mom understood left handers all too well.  My maternal grandmother is a teacher, and both my aunt and uncle are left handed. My Mom grew up being taught that a left handed person is exactly the same as a righty. "Only difference is that they use the hand you ignore" my grandma would tell her assertively.

My Mom spoke to the Principal about my teacher's reasoning. The Principal agreed with my Mom that the teacher was wrong in having made such an irresponsible statement to a class full of preteens with insecurities.  Not only did she agree, she happened to be a leftie herself. Imagine her face when my Mom explained the situation. Ms. Delgado, went on to tell my Mom that all candidates running for the US Presidency that campaign year were coincidentally left handed. Ross Perot, President George Bush, and President Bill Clinton.  

Many Presidents are left handed, but also artists and athletes are too. Left handed athletes find an advantage being agile in a sport where the rest of their contenders are mostly right handed. Some of my older friends were forced to write with the right hand. Some were forced by teachers, nuns, and even parents, by tying their left hand to the chair they were sitting on.  Others were repeatedly slapped with a ruler when they tried using their left hand. Those were other times, and ignorance played a large part in the belief that using your left hand was evil, or carried some mental or learning disabilities that should be avoided by forcing the individual to write with the right hand.  

As the new school year began, year after year, I was always anxious thinking "What if there's no left handed desks in class?" Then the worry got worse when I had to go to 7 different classrooms in one day! Sometimes I was shy to ask for a left handed desk. But, as I learned to speak up, I would scan the classroom and immediately ask the teacher if she could request one for me. Some, to my surprise, were left handed themselves and thrilled to know another leftie'. 

I'm extremely thankful to my Mom and Grandma for always being supportive and not forcing me to write with my right hand. I'm proud that my Dad didn't remain stuck in his ways and embraced my left handednessv. You know what else? I had babies and one of them is left handed too! There's nothing wrong with us! We are just different and extremely creative, smart, and funny. Ok sometimes, I must admit, we are a little crazy!😜