Rachel's Graduating

Can't believe it's been 4 years already. Rachel is graduating from college in May. Not only is she graduating but has the highest GPA of all the students in the Social Work Program. She is a member of Phi Alpha Phi, a honors society that only invites the top 10% of the country's Social Work students. Will soon become Westfield's Social Workers Honors Society President, is a member of  QSA (Queer Straight Alliance ) on campus, Vice President to SWAG, (Social Workers Alliance Group), works in the Student Center, and has a full year practicum at an area Nursing Facility. She is one busy girl.

She has begun looking for a graduate program. She has applied to 5, Boston University, Boston Collage, Simmons, Smith and Westfield. She hoped to go full time but unless she is approved for advanced standing, which is a 2 year degree in 1 she will have to go part time and work.

UPDATE

Rachel has been accepted into the Advanced Standing program at Westfield! She is one of only 10 students that are accepted into the program each year. I can't put into words how truly amazed and proud I am of her.

Amazed because she does all of the stuff she does making it look so easy. She is always doing something, but gets it all done. I read something once, "if you want to get something done and done right, ask a busy person"

Proud, oh my goodness. She has come so very far. I truly can't express enough the gratitude I feel for her third grade teacher who first suggested we have her tested....something just isn't "right", her grades aren't what they should be. Well, if it wasn't for Ann Marie Ouellett we might have never realized her learning disability.  To Mrs McKenna, who showed her so many things to help compensate for her disability. She still writes her college papers using the format she learned in the 7th grade from her.


She's been accepted to Smith, but isn't really thinking about going there. It will take her 3 times as long, and cost at least three times as much than at Westfield. I want her to make her decision on the program offered, not just the money....but she's a smart kid and will pick the right place for her.









 

FREDDIE........A GOOD DOG

My constant companion is coming to the end of his troubled life. He has dogie Alzheimer's and it seems he often doesn't know where he is. Over the past few weeks he has deteriorated. Drinks alot of water but eats very little. I carry him  upstairs every night.  He walks into things, stands with his head in a corner not knowing how to get out of it. Last week I left a cabinet door opened and he climbed inside and had no idea how to get out and it was no fun trying to drag him out either.

Rachel doesn't want to see his decline. She just sees the little dog who helped heal her heart when we lost Boss. A happy little guy, we found in a shelter. He had been there for two years, was already 7, had had heart worm, and was Lyme positive....we'll take him. The shelter worker cried, Freddie found a family.

 What they didn't tell us....he was a thief, nothing on the table or counter was safe not even butter, loved to chase cars, and had separation anxiety, peeing in the house every time we left him alone. He had a sweet and loving temperament. Loving all he met, even the veterinarian, unless she tried to look in his mouth.

He sleeps more and more of late. He paces at night, Rachel calls it sun downing, sometimes for hours on end. He is still interested in cookies, puts his head in my hand for a gentle rub on  his ears and every once in a while he looks at me with those soft brown eyes letting me know he's still my Freddie.

I dread his passing, he was my constant companion all during Gee's final stages. He was never more than three feet away always watching over me. He is a good dog that will be sorely missed, he came to us when we needed him the most. We will meet again if not in this life then the next.

December 18.....Three Years

Three years gone, hardly a second has passed that I don't miss his laugh, his common logic, his words of hard earned wisdom. I find myself saying, "as Gee would say".... quite often.  I also find myself asking , what would Gee do, all the time. He was such an intelligent man. I often wonder what he would have become if he had the opportunities he made sure his children had.

So life has moved on for his children. Rachel will graduate in May. She is applying to graduate schools and hopes to find the money to go full time. Then she and Steve will set the date for the wedding. Right now all we really know is it will be in October, after they both graduate.

Clayton and Katie are waiting the arrival of the new baby boy. He is due in January. Jack can't wait to be a big brother. Has named the baby ...Calico Jack....I think he's been voted down. Clayton is loving his job in Boston. I don't think he likes the commute, but the excitement of the city appeals to him. Katie is settling in at the high school she works at. This year she will receive professional status.

Has life moved on for me? I guess I have to say yes, to getting used to being on my own. I get up and go to work everyday. Knowing I will have to be one of many people today, mother, teacher, councilor, for my students. This school year hasn't been bad for me. My new teacher is wonderful. Kate really knows what she's doing. Many of her plans take time to show improvement in behavior, however given some time they really do work. The game night ladies keep me busy. Lynda drags me to almost anything she can think off, school dances, school committee meetings, meat raffles and not to forget Christmas shopping.

Kate

Another year, another new teacher.

Is this 8 or 9, I've lost count.

This one was worth the wait! Kate is a straight shooter, no bullshit kind of woman. Relatively young, just 30, smart, and funny. What more can you ask for.

Well for her to stick around for more than a year or two, might be good. She has been a sped director in a charter school. I asked her why the return to teaching?   She isn't certified for public school. Well, what's holding you back? She needs to put together a portfolio......really, that's it. What are you waiting for.  Not that this is an easy task, very time consuming, but if you have all the rest in place lets get going here!!

Not that I want to loose her to some other sped department, however she's to young and to good to waste her talents. She has plans for this program, Project Support, that are really innovative. Things no one and I do mean no one has even thought of before.  How about making the kids accountable for their actions!! Oh what a concept, who'd have thought it. Not giving in to them and suspending them, she calls it "shutting them down". Very much like in house suspension except your time in "isolation" doesn't even start until you comply to what ever got you there. It can be as simple as making it through the day without storming out of the room. Took one girl 3 days before she figured it out. Every day she left our room with out permission she was sent home....parents had to come get her and we would start again the next day. Sounds like she got her way, she got to go home, but the next morning we were back to phase one.....isolation..... no interaction with anyone but Kate or I, no social interaction at all, no breaks, no United Arts, no lunch with peers, nothing. She hasn't felt the need to storm out again.  She now has a new behavior program to follow, 3 ten minute passes to use as she likes to leave the classroom.....to go to guidance office, the nurse, or just to us for a cool down.... any banked breaks can be saved and traded for special privileges.  She does need to use them appropriately, ask the teacher to use a pass, tell the teacher where she is going and sign out of the room as all students must do. As of Friday, 2 weeks and going strong!

It is so nice to go to work and have someone who appreciates what you do everyday. Some one who knows these kids can erupt at any moment and still comes to work, not just for the paycheck, but because she loves working with them. We at the Middle School have been waiting a long time for Kate, just hope she sticks around for awhile. She says she's not going anywhere for a while....

WELCOME KATE, WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU!!!

Lynda's Dream, another sign?

My friend Lynda has been having a recurring dream of Gee. In her dream he is singing the Nat King Cole song Autumn Leaves. After he finishes the song he tells Lynda, "tell Robin, honey mustard yellow shirt". She asks him what does that mean, he laughs, that big loud laugh, and says, "she'll figure it out", and she wakes. It is always about 3 am.

Freaky thing is...I have been waking up about 3, jokingly telling her to stop making so much noise she's waking me up now....not knowing about the dreams. After a few days and dreams she tells me about her dream. Neither have woken up at 3am since, an she no longer has the dream.

Listening to the song, I hear Gee's voice, missing him so very much, the tears falling as I play it over and over. Soon it will be three years since he died, still feels like yesterday.

The falling leaves drift by the window The autumn leaves of red and gold I see your lips, the summer kisses The sun-burned hands I used to hold Since you went away the days grow long And soon I'll hear old winter's song But I miss you most of all my darling When autumn leaves start to fall

Freddie The Wonder Dog

Fred scared me this week. He has been sick again. Lethargic, retching and just miserable. He was so unsteady on his feet I was sure he was going to collapse. I'm sure the heat didn't help but he looked like this was it....I was going to lose my constant companion this time.

So like every other time we withheld food for 24 hours. The vet usually says food and water but with the heat as bad as it is that wasn't an option. Yesterday he looked better in the morning, not good but better. He ate his bland rice and boiled chicken and kept it down. Then in the afternoon he seemed to get very unstable using the wall as guide when he walked. Even his eyes looked like he was in distress.

So now comes the question.....do I call the vet. We have gone through these episodes before. They are connected with his Lyme disease. The fear was what if it isn't his Lyme, what if it is something else.

 Rachel, being more level headed about him than I, convinced me to hold off until morning. So I carried him upstairs to bed, ( he can't do the stairs anymore) closed the gate so he wouldn't fall down, or try to go down stairs and went to bed.

This morning I was greeted by a happy tail wagging old dog !! Yeah he still can't climb the stairs.... He still can't see anything if it isn't right in front of him.... He is still shaky on his feet.....He still forgets he's housebroken sometimes..... but he's still my Freddie. He is still following me where ever I go, even if it takes him a bit longer to get up to do it.

SCHOOL'S OUT, STEVE'S IN

The end of the school year is finally here! This has been a hard year for me, lots of changes. I started on the 8th grade floor with F and V, moved to the 7th grade floor with those guys L, T and Y and ended up in an unofficial 1:1 role with JM. So what does next year bring for me.... another new teacher! This makes number 8, I believe. My teacher from this year is pregnant and is due in late August. She is planning on staying home until the kids return after Christmas break in January. I have taken over the class in the past but I don;t see that happening for this. First I am not certified to teach as a long term sub and second the program has changed so very much this year I don't want to be the sub. I am very happy working in the classroom supporting the students with their school work instead of the social/psycho issues that have become Project Support.

The end of the year "meeting" went very well. It was held at Josh's house. Most everyone came...It was sad to know Brent wont be with us next year, he is retiring. Off to discover the wilds of the world, he said.....Grandpa hood!

I have bags and boxes of stuff everywhere. I can barely get to the plants in the dinning room, Clayton's old room is full to over flowing with two accordions, two tubas, two keyboards and two groups of college crap that needs to go back to Westfield and UMASS....Steven has moved in to the building!

It has been a rough few months for my future son in law. His folks broke up just before Thanksgiving and now his Mom has moved to NH, Dad is off pursuing other "interests" and Steve is kind of lost in the shuffle. So when Rachel asked could he live here I said of course he could.  He is helpful and willing to do anything I ask him to, besides he's soon to be family....after graduation.

Fred is really showing his age. He sleeps most of the time. We have to help him on the stairs, using a baby gate to insure he doesn't fall down at night. His hind legs are not very stable and he often leans into things to get support. He gets "stuck" in corners, forgets that he was once housebroken, and can't see for crap. His tail still wags, he follows me everywhere in the house and doesn't seem to be in any pain, except the occasional stiffness of old age, so for now I think we're good. I can't even think of the alternative.