Jan

9

Melanie’s Fall Semester

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This past fall was my last semester of graduate school. I didn’t have any classes, so I spent 5 days a week at my externship site. I was at the elementary school in our town. The school was about 14 blocks from home, so I was able to walk most days. The school is for kindergarten through second grade with two Special Ed preschool classes. My supervisor has been at the school since the mid-80s! She was an amazing teacher. I learned so much from her.

Most of the kids we served had language or speech problems. We did a lot of assessment of kindergarteners. The kids were great! They were well-behaved and so much fun. I had to create a lesson each week to do with the groups. Because that age group is so focused on literacy, many weeks I went through a book and asked them lots of questions. Therapy was conducted in groups of 2-8 kids.

My favorite group was the preschoolers. The 3-year old preschool class was across the hall from our room, and we were in there quite a bit. According to state law, for every special ed preschooler you have to have a normally-developing peer. Of course the parents decided whether or not their child was normal, which made some interesting situations (there were two boys who were supposed to be normal, but seemed to have some mild autism characteristics). The class had about 14 kids. The special ed kids included 2 boys with autism, a boy with a seizure disorder (and did not speak), a girl with a cleft palate, and a boy with childhood apraxia (we think). The kids loved sitting on the adults laps during circle time. Sometimes I would have 2 or 3 kids trying to sit on my lap at once.

Here are a few funny stories from the semester.

We evaluated a little boy for speech and language. We see his sister for speech, and she is not the brightest light bulb in the box. After talking to the father, I think it might be hereditary. After the testing, the father asked if the boy would need speech. My supervisor said we would have to calculate the scores before we knew. The father said, “Well, if he has a 7 year old brain he won’t need to come to speech.” Then, with a very pronounced lisp and accent said, “I know where he gets his speech impediment from. His mom’s cousin has a real bad country accent.”

Dawson (one of the preschool boys whose mom is the teacher) went with his father to a meeting. The lady had short, dark, and curly hair. Dawson pipes up, “You have dark curly hair just like Miss Melanie!” When they got home the father asked his wife (the preschool teacher), “Who’s Miss Melanie?”

Fall Fun Day was a school-wide day of different activities to celebrate Fall. I helped the preschool class as they went to their various activities. Our first stop was singing and story time in the library. We sang a song, and then a lady portraying Mary Draper Ingalls told her story. Unfortunately, she didn’t do a good job of bringing her story down to a 3 and 4 year old level. Add Special Ed kids in the mix, and it was an interesting time. The kids did a great job paying attention during the first 15-20 minutes. But then attention started to wane. One 4 year old girl lay on the floor and sang the “ABC” song. Our probably-autistic boy started scooting closer and closer to the story teller and eventually had to be held. Thankfully he did not hum much during the story. At one point they passed around sunflower seeds for the kids to eat (since that’s one of the foods Mary found to eat on her way home). I was surprised how many of them like it. Our little syndrome boy devoured his seeds and then held his cup up saying “more” several times (meanwhile the story is still going on). At one point Mary talked about how she was in the river and she didn’t know how to swim. She asked what happens when water goes over your head. Instead of saying “you drown,” Dawson pipes up “You go up to God.” Mary didn’t quite know how to respond to that. Then she asked the kids what language we speak (like they know the answer to that). “Do we speak French?” The 4 year olds say no. “Do we speak Spanish?” The 4 year olds again say no. “Do we speak English?” Our little syndrome boy, who is pretty unintelligible above the one-word level says “no!” Thos of us who know the boy started laughing because listening to him talk you wouldn’t think it was English!

Our final stop on Fall Fun Day was to listen to a man talk about bee keeping. He mentioned honey and then he had some honey for the kids who wanted to try it. One of the aids went around and put it on the finger of the kids who wanted some. Several of the 3 year olds were interested until the honey was put on their finger. One “normal” kid had some sensory issues and started wiping it off on his clothes. The autistic boy gestured that he wanted some, so the aid went and put a large glob on his finger. While they were trying to get him to put his finger in his mouth he freaked out about the texture on his finger. He spastically shook his hand and honey went flying in the air, on the aid who was holding him (who didn’t react because she was probably expecting it) and the aid next to them who freaked out (she helps the other preschool class that isn’t as severe and I think she got some in her hair). It was pretty funny.

Jul

1

New Jersey and New York

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On Sunday after the wedding we drove to northern New Jersey to spend a few days with Mel’s aunt and uncle. The driving wasn’t too bad, even though we were on I-95 for most of the way.

On Sunday afternoon there was a picnic for family involving hot dogs, hamburgers, sausages (all grilled), lots of salads and chips – and a little bit of rain. In fact, it rained off and on quite a bit when we up that way. Apparently, they’ve had a lot more rain than usual this spring.

Mel and I were relegated to a tent in the back yard. The Boones have a large indoor cat, and Mel is allergic to cats. The tent was ok, but it rained a little at night and the sun came up very early. I don’t think we got much sleep.

On Monday we went with Mel’s cousins into NYC. Stephanie drove, since we determined that finding parking would be cheaper than taking public transit. We parked near Times Square and then got on the subway to Chinatown. Morgan wanted to go to Chinatown – the good part, not the purely tourist areas. We ended up walking around Chinatown quite a bit. It’s a little ironic how much Chinatown has “invaded” Little Italy

. Italians have a long, influential history in NYC, but the district they are commonly associated with is tiny compared to the neighboring Chinatown.

DSC_0325After Chinatown we got on the subway (and waited for a while) to go to Central Park. We got off on Madison Avenue and walked to FAO Schwartz. While we were in the store, the fire alarm apparently went off, though we couldn’t really tell in the store. When we got out into the plaza (where the Apple store is), it was covered in suited businessmen and women milling about. After a few minutes, some fire trucks showed up and clarified what was going on. 

We got lunch at a hot dog stand at the corner of Central Park. After lunch Mike and Cameron went to the Apple store, while Mel, Stephanie, Morgan and I walked down 5th Avenue. The girls wanted to find the American Girl store. I actually went in when we found it. It was kind of fun. It would be an awesome treat for a little girl, but it was fascinating how much time and money goes into the dolls. They had a hair salon (for the dolls), shelves and shelves of clothing options, a photo studio, and a cafe. DSC_0333

On Monday night, after we got back to NJ, Mel and I went to supper in White Plains with my grandparents. We went to a nice Italian restaurant and then to a park near the dam that holds back the water for NYC. Getting there and back was yet another reason to love GPS. It’s amazing how easy it is to find your way.

On Tuesday we went with Mel’s family to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. The GPS didn’t do so well this time. It took us through downtown Jersey City. We got there, but it’s hard to believe that it was the fastest way.

DSC_0517 Ellis Island was really cool. I think we got there early enough to just beat the rush, though people arrive a boatload at a time, so there tends to be large clumps milling about. The exhibits were really fascinating. After a while, some started to seem a bit redundant, but the overall effect was very nice. There was lots of detail and first-person stories about coming into the USA. It seemed like the National Park Service (who runs the island now) wanted to dispel some of the popular notions about Ellis Island. Often people think that immigrants coming through Ellis Island were treated little better than so much cattle. It’s true that they were often poor and that conditions were hard, but most of that had nothing to do with Ellis Island. Further, poor as they were, they were often much better off here than where they came from. Most people made it through immigration in less than a day (90%). Only 2% were denied admission, and often for very obvious reasons. The immigration officials seemed genuinely concerned for the welfare of the people, and sometimes that meant forcing them to endure some discomfort in order to reduce their overall stay in immigration.

One of the most interesting exhibits to me was the room about mental health. Immigration officials wanted to prevent insane people and those who weren’t intelligent enough to work out of the country. It seems like a cruel policy, but they wanted to avoid having to become a giant welfare state (remember, this was the early 1900s). But often the immigrants came from very poor backgrounds, and many of them didn’t speak English. The psychologists had to devise psychometric tests (including intelligence tests) that didn’t depend on culture or language. Of course, modern psychologists debate endlessly about the cultural aspect of intelligence tests as if past Americans were benighted bigots who unjustly discriminated because of invalid tests. But what happens if the person you’re testing doesn’t speak English, can’t read, and has never held a pencil? The Ellis Island psychologists realized the impact of all these factors, and more, and seem to have done a pretty good job evaluating immigrants in spite of themselves. DSC_0555

Liberty Island was fun too, though there isn’t much to do. Security onto the monument is tight and access is limited. We got to go, but we spent a while in lines. On Saturday, July 4, the NPS will open the crown again to visitors. We were just a few days early.

We spent Tuesday night with Tim and Mel Taylor. They’re living in Newark now so that Tim can go to law school. We had a good time with them, and a fairly decent night of sleep before our trip home.

On Wednesday we headed home. It’s about 8 hours from Newark to Radford, but we took a slight detour to visit Gettysburg National Military Park. We didn’t really have that much time, so we only did part of the 24-mile driving tour. We also went the the cemetery (call us weird) where Lincoln gave his Gettysburg Address. It was hot, so we didn’t want to walk that much outside, and the museum was a little too expensive to justify an hour’s visit.

We made it home around 8:30, completely exhausted. I think we’re still recovering. But it was a fun trip. We’ll have to do it again when we have more time to enjoy it.

Jun

27

Boone Wedding

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Andrew and I were able to take some time off of work last week to attend my cousin Brandon’s wedding. My family came and stayed with us Wednesday night, and Thursday morning they drove to Philadelphia, PA for some sight seeing. Andrew and I left Friday morning. We needed to be at the Philly airport at 5:15pm to pick up my brother Matt who was flying from camp in Wyoming. We had a few hours before he arrived, so we parked at the airport and took the train into the city. We met up with Michael (my parents had already left to get ready for the rehearsal dinner), and we were able to see the Liberty Bell and the outside of Independence Hall before heading back to the airport to get Matt.

After getting Matt, we drove to the hotel to pick up my cousin Morgan so we could go get supper. We hung around the hotel for awhile waiting for our parents to get back. Andrew and I were staying with some friends of Aunt Debbie and Uncle Dave, so we left later in the evening. Here are the funny hotel room stories.

The toilet in Morgan’s room didn’t work. She called several times asking them to fix it. Eventually the front desk asked if she needed it tonight (dumb question). She said she could send Morgan a plunger or move them to another room. I encouraged her to move to another room. (Why should the paying guest have to plunge her own toilet when it was stopped up before she got the room?) So, we helped her move. After moving everything we noticed the deadbolt in the door was out and wouldn’t close back in which kept the door from closing. We unsuccessfully tried to fix it. Then I had the bright idea of playing with my brothers’ door to see if we could figure out what happened. That resulted in their deadbolt not closing either. Andrew called the front desk and was trying to explain the problem to the girl there. Meanwhile Morgan started playing with the door again. She discovered that turning the door handle the opposite way solved the problem! Meanwhile, earlier that day when Aunt Debbie and Uncle Dave checked into the hotel they were informed that there was no room registered for David Boone. They had a Daniel Boone (my dad) and a Christine Boone (my mom). So, Uncle Dave took my parents room. Then when my parents checked in they didn’t have the right size room for them, so they were given two rooms for the same price. Meanwhile, later that night Uncle Don, Becky, and Kyle and Candace (cousins) checked in and were given Uncle Dave’s room. They walked in the room to discover Aunt Debbie’s mom sitting there. At first no one recognized the other until Kyle finally remembered. They were given another room. Then when Uncle Dave returned from the rehearsal dinner their keys didn’t work because their room had been reassigned! The next morning my parents toilet had gotten clogged as well!

The wedding was at 2:30pm. We found the church without much trouble thanks to the GPS. It was nicely attended. I have never seen so many cameras and phones taking pictures during a wedding before! The wedding went pretty smoothly. Brandon and Justine got a little choked up during their vows. My cousin Stephanie was singing a duet, and her microphone didn’t work, but she worked around that well. The funniest part was the kiss. As Brandon and Justine kissed, the groomsmen all pulled a piece of paper out with a number on it to rate the kiss. The audience roared with laughter. Only the groomsmen knew it was going to happen.

The reception was at Shady Maple, a Smorgasbord run by Mennonites. Apparently it’s a popular place, and as the teenager whose house we stayed at said, “Most of the people there need two seats.” Shady Maple was an hour away, so the reception was at 5pm. It was amazing when we pulled in. It was a gigantic building and parking lot, and the line out front was incredibly long. I was glad we were in a banquet room. According to the Shady Maple website, the buffet room can seat 1, 200 people. It has a 30,000 square foot gift shop in the basement.

We sat at the table for awhile waiting for the wedding party to arrive. When they arrived, we waited some more for the microphones to work. The reception was long. After we finished eating we waited awhile. There was going to be a slide show, but it took a long time to get set up, and then it was a 25 minute presentation! We waited awhile more and Brandon and Justine cut the cake. Brandon was nice, but Justine smeared it on his nose. Eventually Justine threw her bouquet which was caught by Stephanie! The couple finally got out around 10pm, but the night wasn’t over for them yet.

A little later, Aunt Debbie received a phone call from a frantic Justine. Her luggage wasn’t in the car. It was in Stephanie’s car which was back at the church. No one had moved it to the getaway car. They made arrangements to meet at the church, but it was a 45 min drive. Then Cameron realized that HIS luggage was in Brandon and Justine’s car! They finally met up at 11pm to switch the luggage.

The next morning we packed up and headed to New Jersey for a few days at Uncle Dave’s house.

Jan

5

Christmas in Greenville and Michigan

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Andrew was able to take off of work on Christmas Eve, so we headed down to Greenville Tuesday evening (Dec. 23). We spent Christmas Eve morning completing our Christmas shopping at some stores we don’t have in our area. We went to the Christmas Eve service at Hampton Park and spent time with both of our families.

Christmas morning we ate breakfast with my parents and then headed over to the Garland’s to open presents. Grandma Q. came over as well and brought her carload of gifts. Anthony is known for his creative wrapping. One present for Dad G. was about 6 feet tall and in the shape of a “T”. Dad unwrapped the top part and found an empty wrapping paper tube filled with paper towel rolls. He unwrapped the rest of the present and found an umbrella hiding inside. It was pretty funny. We went to lunch at BJU with both of our families. After lunch we opened presents with my family. We got a lot of nice gifts. Andrew’s favorite gifts were a George Forman grill, ESV study Bible, and several books from his Amazon list. My favorite gifts were two snowmen cross stitch books, a hot water bath (for canning), and a pressure canner and cooker.

Friday was a busy day. My family was busy packing for our annual trip to Michigan. Andrew and I attended the funeral for Mrs. Hadley, the mother of one of my good friends. We spent the evening with Andrew’s family.
Saturday was a long day that began at 4:30am. We followed my family for the 12 hour trip to Grandma and Grandpa Erickson’s farm. That area of Michigan had been getting a lot of snow, but Friday and Saturday were a little warmer and it rained so most of the snow melted. We did get a few more inches of snow halfway through the week.

Sunday was our only busy day of the vacation in Michigan. Grandma wanted her whole family at church so she could show us off. We took up 3 pews (most of the rest of the family lives in the same area, but they go to different churches). After church we headed over to Uncle Brian’s and Aunt Annette’s where we had our big dinner and then opened our gifts. Since there are so many of us we draw names for gifts. Some of the women like to do small things for everyone. This year my mom made caramel corn for all the guys and cookies in a jar for the women. Tricia made a small loaf of friendship bread for all the guys and Bath and Body Works handsoap or lotion for the women.

On New Year’s Eve we all went back to Uncle Brian’s for supper. Then some of us younger adults went into town to go bowling. We had a good time and enjoyed watching some of my cousin’s friends come up with creative ways to bowl. The funniest one was when the two girls (who were terrible bowlers) decided to roll the ball together. They got a strike. We got back to Uncle Brian’s about 9:30. Half of the group went downstairs to Uncle Brian’s home movie theater to watch an action movie and eventually everyone else went home.

The other days were pretty slow although there was always a house full of people, especially at meal time. All of us from out of town headed home Saturday morning. It is wonderful to have family we both get along with and enjoy spending time together.

Dec

26

Meditation on Loss and Suffering

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Today we went to the funeral of a long-time friend’s mother. It can be hard to know what to think in such times. We rejoice that she is free from her years of suffering, and that she is rejoicing in the presence of her Savior. But we are tempted to ask why she had to suffer for so many years.

When someone who seems to genuinely love God suffers so much, I am often amazed by God’s grace to her. There is a sense in which such a person has been given a special task that is unusual, both in its difficulty and its reward.

Consider the most famous book in the Bible on suffering: Job. The story of Job describes the pain of a man who suffers for no apparent reason. His friends erroneously accuse him of wrongdoing, assuming that all suffering is the result of sin. Our culture has possibly gone too far the other way, assuming that suffering is never the result of sin. But there are still people who seem to suffer for no reason. Job apparently never learned why he suffered, but we benefit from his experiences through an inspired book describing both his suffering and the dynamics that initiated it. Clearly, the point of Job is that people, sometimes righteous people, suffer—that suffering isn’t necessarily the product of an individual’s sin.

Later, in John 9, Jesus’ disciples apparently hadn’t learned the lesson. They asked Jesus whether the man born blind had sinned or his parents had sinned that he should have been born blind. Jesus revealed their misunderstanding: “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

This brief statement clarifies some of God’s working. Sometimes God lets people suffer so that He can show his power in them. God has given them a special honor by allowing them to suffer.

In attempting to be honest, some Christians will observe that no one is really a good or righteous person. Everyone has sinned and thus deserves to suffer in some sense. I think that this notion is wrong-headed and unhelpful. Of course everyone has sinned, but Christians need not do penance. Their suffering has been taken by Jesus. He has given them peace with God, so they can rejoice in hope of the glory of God, even through suffering. Their suffering isn’t easier to explain by observing that they still have a sin nature.

Instead it seems a great honor that God would let them suffer. If some people suffer merely so that the works of God could be displayed in them, then God is letting them be a special vehicle for displaying His glory. God takes his own glory very seriously, so that if God trusts a mere person with his glory, He shows great confidence in their ability to bring Him praise. Of course He provides special grace to those people, but it is nonetheless a great privilege. A vote of confidence from God is the best you can get.

I think this notion plays out in observation. Unbelievers seem sorry and confused, even despairing, when they are confronted with adversity. Christians who suffer from some physical ailment often have extraordinary ministry with others around them; their doctors and nurses and fellow patients remark about their generous and humble spirit. Their ability to affect those around them seems to grow exponentially. I can think of at least four individuals and families who seem to have been given this special ministry in recent years. They are the ones that seem to need ministering to, but they end up encouraging those who try to encourage them. Surely God is with them.

So it’s hard to know what to think and how to minister to those who have lost loved ones, especially after that one has suffered for years. We are naturally disposed toward sympathy, and perhaps some is warranted. But my sympathy is often counterpoised with wonder and admiration, that God would honor these people with such an important task. In this we can see how the Holy Spirit would command us to rejoice in sufferings. The death of such a saint is the final reward for successfully completing her calling.

Dec

22

Nature

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We periodically get pretty windy days with strong gusts. Friday was such a day. Sustained wind was around 70 mph with gusts recorded up to 150 mph. It appears the wind knocked down an oak tree at a nearby house. You can’t really tell from the picture, but the inside of the tree is rotten. The tree knocked some of the roof work off, but no windows were broken!

Friday night I was working on supper and glanced out the window. A beautiful bright rainbow caught my eye. The sky above us was blue, although I could feel some sprinkles being blown from somewhere (another usual occurrence in this area).

Saturday Andrew and I took a walk in the wooded park a few blocks from our apartment. We were looking for deer but saw a skunk instead. We enjoyed watching it for several minutes. It was very entertaining. Unfortunately we didn’t have a camera, so we weren’t able to get any pictures.

Here are some pictures. The first one is from Thanksgiving. The others should be pretty self-explanatory.

Dec

6

Thanksgiving

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Andrew and I were able to go to Greenville for Thanksgiving. We were busy most of the time. Here’s a recap of our trip.

Tuesday: We headed south when Andrew was finished with work at 4pm

Wednesday: Andrew went to his parents’ house most of the day while I stayed at my parents’ house and helped my mom make food for Thursday. The Keys and Jessica got in that evening.

Thursday: Thanksgiving dinner #1 was at Grandma and Grandpa Boone’s house around 12:30pm. My family was there as well as Grandma and Grandpa, the Ridleys, the Keys, and Jessica. Thanksgiving dinner #2 was at Grandma Q’s house at 5pm. Andrew’s family was there plus grandma and a family Mom Garland works with.

Friday: Andrew helped Dad Garland and Anthony do some work on their new property. I stayed with my family and we went downtown for awhile. It was a beautiful day. We ate supper and spent the evening with Andrew’s family.

Saturday: I helped my parents pick out a Christmas tree. We went out to lunch and spent some time with Abby and Lincoln. We spent the evening with my family.

Sunday: We went to Hampton Park for church and ate lunch with Andrew’s family and our friend Erica. The Keys and Jessica left. I helped decorate the Christmas tree. We headed back to Radford around 3:30pm and had heavy traffic the first half of the trip. It took us more than an hour longer to get back.

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