<div><p>At age 64, Ralph Burns has lived a full and happy life. He's a talented guitar player, he's worked as a pastor and painter, but the one thing he never learned how to do was read.</p><p>Burns went to school until about the third grade, but then dropped out. He blames this on his "rough life," including being abandoned by his parents at a young age. </p><p>Up until now the most Burns could understand were a few street signs, but with the help of a dedicated tutor his life has changed completely. </p><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/02/2266250723-3.jpg" srcset="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/02/2266250723-3_GH_content_550px.jpg 550w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/02/2266250723-3_GH_content_650px.jpg 650w" sizes="89vw" title="" alt="" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img><p><!-- [invalid-shortcode] --></p><p>Burns found help through an organization called <a href="http://friendsofliteracy.org/">Friends of Literacy</a>. They set him up with Sydney Osborne, a personal tutor. Even though Burns says he's had "50-100 teachers," Osborne is the first person who's really made a difference for him.</p><p>For most of his life Burns would just watch people around him, or ask people to help him out. He couldn't read the menu at a restaurant, so he would always ask the waiter to recommend something. Osborne says that when they started working together he was like a kindergartner on the first day of school.</p><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/02/2266250723-3-1.jpg" srcset="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/02/2266250723-3-1_GH_content_550px.jpg 550w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/02/2266250723-3-1_GH_content_650px.jpg 650w" sizes="89vw" title="" alt="" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img><p><!-- [invalid-shortcode] --></p><p>After working together for 2 hours each week for more than a year, they've made some incredible progress. The first time Burns tried to read <em>Green Eggs and Ham</em> it took him 6 hours, now it's easy. </p><p>While it's taken a lot of hard work to get to this point, Burns credits his success to Osborne. He says she has "that gift," and it's made all the difference.</p><p>"It opens up a whole new world," he told <a href="http://www.local8now.com/content/news/64-year-old-man-learns-how-to-read--413213413.html">CBS news</a>. "I can go into the restaurant and almost read the menu." </p><h3>Share this story if you think teachers are important!</h3></div>