The Christianville Spirit: TCS Series; My Legacy (Rerun)

Me and My #1 Fan, Lynne!

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Uplifts Your Soul

July 9, 2014-TCS # 409

So, My Readers, I have Noticed Something and It has Occurred to Me that I have More Readers that I did when I started. The Sad Part is that, unless You go looking for Some of My “Gold Newsletters” from The Past, You would have to go far back to see all of them. You See, I have written many “Gold Newsletters” over The Years (all the way back to 2006) and A lot of New Readers that weren’t around at the Beginning, Missed Them. For My Veterans (those who around when I started), This will be a Good Refresher. It does feel good, at least for Me, to look back to a Certain Year and Wonder Where I was, What was Going on in My Life, and The Many Adventures that I had. So, I’m going to do a Series bringing up The Gold Newsletters from The Past, I’m calling The Series, “TCS’s Oldie Goldies”. So, without further, This is The Christianville Spirit Series, “TCS’s Oldie Goldies”. This “Oldie Goldie”, as I take on a Casey Kasem Voice, was written back on July 13, 2011. It is about an Epiphany I had about My Legacy. As They say in TV and Radio, Roll it... 

You know those Thought Provoking epiphanies that occur in Your Life. You Know, the ones that make you see the meaning of Life or more along, Your Life. Well, I had one a couple days ago and it was about My Legacy. You See, I’ve heard about these “meaning of life” or “What in the world is My Life about” kind of epiphanies, Rumors says that like Every big thing that happens, seems to occur in Your 20’s. Just like your 20’s, you tell your parents about anything and everything that’s every happened as well as anything that has ever bothered you. Anyway, This Epiphany came about because I was thinking some of My Family’s Legacies and Believe Me, the Smith Family has led many great legacies including My Grandma Honey helping teenage unwed mothers in Maine to her great work-ethic. Of course, the Legacy of The Smith Family can’t forget Popi, My Grandpa who was, to say the least, A Great Man. But, then I thought, “What in the world is My Legacy?” and God in my head spoke, “Your Legacy is to help The Families and to Inspire them”. Of Course, I knew what he was addressing. He was addressing My great PTLS Family and that I need to help them. Now, by “Help” I believe he means not necessarily Support them because That’s up My Mom. But, to Inspire Them. You Know, back when I was in Senior High School, My Friends and I would occasionally sit in this Garden area which was a little walk from the Cafeteria. Anyway, there was this Plaque that read “Friends will come and go, but good friends will leave a foot print on Your Heart that will last forever”. At that time, I sort of understood what it meant and I thought it was sweet. But, I didn’t really understand what it meant. Today, now thinking about it, I do. You See, In a way I’m leaving my print on Many Hearts of members of My PTLS Family and the truth is their doing the same to me. All in all here, We all have legacies that we are here to lead, as little or as big as they may be.

Thanks for reading The Christianville Spirit. Here’s a rare-double dose Inspiration. Find what Your Legacy is and lead it. The Second, is from the Plaque with a little twist of mine “Friends and/or Family will come and go. But, Good Friends and/or Family will leave a print that lasts forever.”

The Christianville Spirit: My Brother's View on Me- Rerun

This is Michael with His Chickens that He has at His House

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Opens Your Eyes

July 2, 2014-TCS # 408

So, I decided to do a Little Blast from The Past Newsletter, For This Week’s Newsletter. This “Blast from The Past” Newsletter was written back on June 20, 2012. It is a Newsletter about a Question that PTLS Family Members always wonder about. How My Brother, Michael views Me and having PTLS. Now, Just to be clear, Michael is My Actual Brother (along with a Half-Brother and Half-Sister on My Dad’s Side). All other “Brothers” I mention about (Like Tyler) are because I take the term “PTLS Family” to a Literal Sense. So, without further a due, This is My Brother’s View on Me!

So, Now that I have written Last Week on My View of My Brother and you enjoyed it. Well, now your really going to enjoy this! It’s the long-awaited Newsletter on how My Brother views me. This idea has been in My Head for a while before I finally decided to do it. My Mom and PTLS Family Members had always wondered about My Brother how My Brother felt about me having Special Needs and Having PTLS(or dup.17p11.2, as it used to be called). The idea came when one of the PTLS Members suggested that I should do a Newsletter on My Brother and his view of it all. I mean, considering that I mention him a lot in My Newsletters, people start to wonder about him and how he deals with it. It took a while at first, getting the nerve to ask him to do this, and even the idea of what questions do I ask? Because first off, I didn’t know what to ask him or even more unnerving, what would he say? So, I sent out a post on Facebook to PTLS Members on what questions they want answered and/or curious about and I got quite a few responses about what they want to know. After reading a couple questions, I thought, “Man, these are deep questions” and “I’m not sure if I really want to know about it or not.” So, then came, “How do I do this? A talk? Dictation to My Mom? or an Interview?” Well, long story short, I asked My Brother about it and he said, “We’ll do an interview” and finally, after a while of asking him(because both he and I kept forgetting or it wasn’t the right time of day,) He sat down to answer the questions. He finished it yesterday and it’s ready to go. First, I want to thank him and let him know I appreciate his honesty and willingness to do this. So, Get Ready everyone cause here’s the interview. As a note: the Bolded Questions are from the PTLS Family and below it are Michael’s Responses. So, as they say in Television and Radio, Roll it...   

TCS: When you were about 10-13 years old, can you tell us as a sibling how you felt when your bother had an aggressive outburst? Did you truly understand what was going on with him?

 Michael: For as long as I have known him, which is practically my entire life, he has never had an aggressive outburst. For the most part if he ever got really upset he would get more emotional. He would work himself up and start crying. There would be the occasional times where he would raise his voice but nothing that could ever be put as an aggressive outburst. At that age I had already seen him do things like that before so I wasn’t to worried about it. I just figured that he was more sensitive to things then I was, I never really linked PTLS to his sensitivity. I also figured out by then he was extremely stubborn and if he didn’t want to do something, he would put up quite a fight. Which would also cause him to get upset.

  TCS: How did having a sibling with PTLS effect your life both good and things that were difficult?

 Michael: Well growing up, nobody knew what PTLS was including myself. I was told that my brother had special needs and I just took that as the literal sense. I never considered him special or different though. I treated him like my bother with no exceptions and restraints. Naturally I picked on him and gave him a hard time. The one thing that I did do growing up was take on the role of big brother. I looked out for him and tried to teach him things. Christian has also taught me a lot growing up with him. I learned from a young age that people in the world see things differently. There’s nothing wrong with looking at the world differently and having a sense of individuality. Everyone goes through highs and lows, it’s how you deal with the situation that makes the difference.

TCS: How do you deal with your peers asking questions about your brother?

 Michael: Honestly, when I was younger I can’t really remember to many people asking about him. I think the main reason was that he was always pretty friendly to everyone. No one really could tell just by meeting him that he had special needs. After a while of getting to know him or seeing him then they might ask questions. I’m always proud to tell them what’s up. I just tell them that he has this rare chromosome duplication and he was forth to be diagnosed with it. After that, some people keep questioning and are really interested others just move on to the next order of business, whatever that might be.

TCS: PTLS kids need a lot of attention/ extra help. Were you ever envious of this?

 Michael: Nope. If anything when I was younger I found it annoying and frustrating. Not that he was getting more attention then me or anything like that, it was just because I was ready to move on and progress while Christian was still trying to learn.

TCS: As a sibling was there a time say around preteen where you were embarrassed when you were out with the family?

 Michael: Not really.

TCS: What did your mom do to help you understand Christians PTLS?

 Michael: I think that the best thing for me was learning patients and acceptance. I was taught that not everyone learns the same way and each person is different. Some people require more training on particular topics. Really that advice goes for everyone and didn’t segregate my brother from other people. It didn’t hurt that my mom likes the medical field and could give me facts and explain information easier to me.

TCS: When did you realize Christian was different?

Michael: I don’t think there was really a point of epiphany where all of a sudden I knew he was different. Living with him and growing up together, you just kind of known as life. Its really the same as getting to know anyone else, you hang out with them enough you learn things about them. All it takes is some powers of observation.

TCS: Growing up, can you give some examples of things you showed him how to do/ taught him?

 Michael: Ha ha ha!!! When I was seventeen or so I let Christian drive my car down the neighborhood street. That was exciting to say the least!! I taught him how to play video games and things like that. To recall everything I taught him would take some time. I just try my best to show him and explain to him anything that he has questions about and would like to learn about. His memory is pretty freaky. He can recall all sorts of random stuff. If others put in the effort and energy to teach him, he can learn anything.

TCS: Do you feel any angst or nervousness about being Christian’s guardian later in life?

 Michael: I suppose so, it is kind of nerve racking. I’m not stressing out too much though. We get along great and for the most part he is pretty self-reliant. I am confident in my self and my abilities to overcome any obstacle that dares to stand in front of me. Ha ha ha! But for real, I have known about being his guardian for a long time now, so I’m mentally ready.   

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So, I hope all of this helped to answer your questions on Siblings and My Brother. It was quite surprising to hear some of these because I didn’t expect it. Well, you know, I guess it’s like they say, “You’ll Never Know Until You Ask”, simple as that. This whole interview turned out to be more fun than I thought it was going to be, but then again, I didn’t know. I mean, you know, how much someone loves you but, sometimes, every now and then, you might be curious as to how much that person loves you. As for me, I know that My Brother loves me and understands me, and I love him so much for that. All in all, I say it a lot, but I’ll say it again, My Brother, Michael, is Awesome!

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Let the ones you Love in your life, know that you love them; Everyday.  

The Christianville Spirit: Conversations with PTLSers

Me and Tyler, "Goofing Off"

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Lifts Your Soul

June 25, 2014-TCS # 407

So, I had quite a bit of Fun Over The Weekend that was Exciting. You See, My PTLS “Brother”, Tyler, came to town and We got to hang Out together both on Friday and Saturday. On Friday Evening, We went over to Tyler’s Brother’s House and We had a Nice little cookout along with several other Members of His Family. I really felt like I was literally part of Tyler’s Family. I got to have Some Guy talk with Tyler and His Brothers. My Mom likes to say that We behave and talk so typically when We are Around each other. Me, I just enjoy having Quality Time with Tyler and I don’t really notice the “Typical” Conversations because I am busying having them. Everyone sat around The House talking and Enjoying Each Others Company and Having Healthy Burgers (They were Deer Meat), now before You start thinking, “What are You Nuts?!” It was actually good. On Sunday, My Mom and “Aunt” Angie, as I call her, took us to The Mall and We walked around. Of Course, Going to The Mall didn’t go without what My Uncle Craig refers to as “Goofing Off”. While we were at My Mom’s Favorite Store, Sam Moon (This was before The Mall) Aunt Angie decided to put random hats on Tyler and I and took our pictures, Now that I mentioned it, I will probably have to Show You. We each had Hats that We best looked in, For Me, It was a White Church Lady Hat and For Tyler, It was a Cowboy Hat. After Sam Moon, We went to The Mall to walk around and while we were sitting Eating a Snack, I taught Tyler the Art of People Watching. We sat there, Talked and watched all The Pretty Girls walk by. Tyler would say, “Oh Boy” when He saw a Really Pretty Girl, It was quite funny. I know that This Newsletter sounds a bit Personal But, Us PTLS Adults have a Hard Time getting Friendships going because We have a Hard Time starting Conversations with Someone who is Our Age  and Also has PTLS. See, We don’t have problems talking with Other Adults because We really like it and Find it Easy to do. But, It is Awkward to Talk on Someone that is around Our Age and We can appear to be Shy. Sometimes, We need the help of Our Parents to help us get the Conversation started. But, Once we do, then We are Comfortable. I have talked to 10 or more PTLS Adults and It has taken time to get comfortable to Keep a Conversation going. Even when with Tyler, It took Our Moms helping to get our conversation going. But, when a Adult talks to Me or Messages Me, I have No Problem talking with them because I feel more Comfortable. So, My Time with Tyler has been Important because We are finally comfortable talking with each other. And, Another PTLS Friend who I talk to Several Times a Day and We are Finally Comfortable. All in all, Know that Your Kids want to have Friends but, They are going to need help, “Breaking The Ice” and Getting Conversations started.

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Please be Patient with us PTLSers when it comes to Conversations.  

The Christianville Spirit: A Talk about PTLS Adults

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Lifts Your Soul

June 18, 2014-TCS # 406

So, My Readers, I have found out that My Newsletter 2 Weeks ago was Handled quite Successfully. But, PTLS Family Members that have PTLSers that are past The Children Walking and Talking Phase I’m sure are Wondering, What about The Adults? It is a Curiosity of Many, including those that are still in The Child Phase but, Isn’t mentioned as often. However, It is safe to say that All PTLS Family Members are curious about What They’re child will be like when They are of An Age like Me. So, With that said, Let’s have a bit of an Adult Talk about Some of The Issues related to Adult PTLSers. So, Let’s start out with The Layout of The Land, This is a “New Country” that You are in and You have to get your bearings. So, What is There to Worry about with PTLS Adults? First, I wouldn’t say Worry, more like Wonder about. But, Let’s See; Driving, Living, College, Dating, That dreaded thing called Alcohol, Sex, and of course, Marriage. So, First Up is Driving. Now, There are a Few PTLSers that do have Drivers Licenses but, They don’t Drive. If They do Drive, It is generally Short Distance, like to The Grocery Store. Me? Because I live in Suburban Dallas, I’m not sure if I could handle Driving. Only because I am too busy looking at The Road Signs, The Surroundings, and My Reaction Time is Very Slow. That is not to say though, That I have never driven because I have. My Brother was taking me home from School and He decided to have Me drive in Our Neighborhood, needless to say, It was a Bit scary because I was thinking, “What If I crash or Hit Someone?!” Luckily, My Brother was driving an Older Car at the time, so That Worry wasn’t too bad. Next Thing to Talk about is, College. Now, PTLSers can go to College if They wanted to, We do have a few who did. Me Personally, I believe that Classes for a Degree (Especially Basic Ones like Math) would be Much Higher than My Level of It. But, I could take a Computer Certificate Class and do really well. People often ask me, “Do You or Why do You not go To College?” I personally hate that question if It is coming from Anyone other than a PTLS Family Member, Why? Because It makes me feel Excluded from Everyone Else. I want to be treated like Everyone Else, after all. Then, We move to Living. PTLSers have various Living Situations, some live near Family, Down the Street from Their Parents House, in Group Homes, and So On. I prefer that In the time that I am Single, I would live with a Roommate or Just Stay with My Mom. When I am with Bridgett, I have projected that I will be living with Her and Her Dad. The Key to that though, is that I want My Mom to live nearby Me, as in Next Door or a Couple doors down from Me, or if Anything, Down the Street from Me, as long as She is nearby me if I need help or in an Emergency. Next Thing we have to Talk about is Dating. Now, For all of us (PTLSers and Parents) Dating can be a bit scary at first, I have had 2 Girlfriends so far and that was quite an Experience. She taught me The Art of Cuddling, Holding Hands, and Kissing. And, It pretty much gave My Mom a Heart Attack when she saw me and The Girl I was dating, Kissing. But, Hey! My Mom tells that it is part of The Job Description of Being a Mom. “It’s in The Book of Moms!” She tells me. So, While we are Dating, We might as well get to Sex and Marriage. I personally have thought not to Have Sex until You are at least Engaged, “No Sex Before Monogamy!” as Patti Stanger from The Millionaire Matchmaker says. But, The Idea of Sex, is a bit iffy to Me if You will, because I’m not sure how I would handle it because of My Texture Issues. So, I guess, it will come with Time and When I am Ready. Guys, I am Sorry for the Ugly Picture that might be in Your Head, I am just being Honest! ANYWAY, Let’s move on to Marriage. I have it planned in My Head about Wanting to Find My Soulmate (I have named her, Bridgett) and Marry Her. Since The End of High School, I have had The Idea of a “Woman of My Dreams” who has The Greatest Heart in The World. After all, If The Person has a Good Heart, You wouldn’t mind spending the Rest of Your Life with Them and That is What I plan to do. I have gone so far as to Wonder Where My Honeymoon will be. Now, The Idea of The aspects of The Wedding, I wonder about. I wonder if there really is a need (at least for Me) for a Bachelor Party, I would be Okay with just going out to Dinner and Hanging Out, No Need for all The Crazy Stuff. One Thing that is of Concern about My Wedding, is My Anxiety Level.  I tend to get Anxious about doing New Things, I just hope to God that I don’t get sick in front of A lot of People. I did get sick once (not in front of a lot of People) because I was so Nervous about Being in The School Play in like 3rd Grade. Yea, That’s an Embarrassing Story but, At Least I told It! This is Probably why I should have a Small Wedding. I wonder though too about How it is going to feel with a Ring on My Finger, will I like it on There or Will I not want to Wear it. Because, It bothers me to have things on My Fingers (like a Ring), Wrist (like a Watch), or Even a Necklace. So, the Final Thing that We have to Talk about (as I have found myself rambling) is, “That dreaded thing called Alcohol”, Now, Have I tried Alcohol? Yes, and I don’t like it. Have any other PTLSers tried it? I’m sure they have. I have talked to a few who have and like it and other who don’t. I personally don’t want to have Alcohol. I just have No Interest in It, Hence the Reason I don’t go to Bars, because There is No Fun or Interest to Me in a Bar. Unless You want to sit near The Bar at a Restaurant, then You can have access to having “Shirley Temples” where in The Main Part of The Restaurant, You wouldn’t. For The Most Part, I can take care of Myself throughout The Day, I can even make myself something to Eat, and One of My PTLS “Brothers” and I will learning to Cook More Together This Summer. All in all, Us PTLS Adults, want to have Our Independence but, We still need a little support.

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Cherish Your Adult PTLSers and Support Them as Well.

The Christianville Spirit: My Geographical Research

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Uplifts Your Soul

June 11, 2014-TCS # 405

So, You Know how I have told you that I Love Geography and Maps? Well, I’m not sure I have told You about Just how much and To what Degree. Whenever, I talk to People, be it PTLS Family Members, Friends, and Yes, Even Family, I love to talk to them about Things that I know or Have Learned about a Particular Area. People are amazed at How Much I know about The World, but That is something You already Know. So, How do I get all This Information? Well, besides hearing about Different Places on The News and Cyber-Traveling, There is also talking to People from Other Parts of The World and Then, I Do Research on The Place, Out of Curiosity. I do A lot of Research about Countries; to name a Few Things, Airports, Currency, Roads (and, Signs), Language, the Political View, Life Styles, Stats about The Area, and General Trivia. I was talking to a PTLS Family Member, Stefan, (If You remember, I mentioned him a while back.) I asked him, How far He lived from Stockholm-Arlanda Airport and He was Amazed that I knew what and where “Stockholm-Arlanda” was. Then again, I was Fascinated with Sweden. That happens a lot, Where I get fascinated with Places, Do My Research, and Find Out things that The Person from The Country themselves may not know. I have a Family Friend who actually lives in Stockholm who told me more than I knew about Stockholm. She told me that In Sweden, It is Illegal to Smack Your Children. Yes, Believe It or Not, They have that Law as well as a Hate Speech Law, (The Hate Speech was My Own Research). If The Child reports that Their Parents hit them, even if it was a Tap, The Government gets involved, The Children are sent to Foster Care and Parents go to Jail for Years. Needless to Say, It creates Respect between The Children and The Parents. She told me that It is so “Freeing” in Sweden, because People can do more things, Enjoy Nature, and Due to The Size of Houses there Compared to The US, You don’t have to have a lot of Stuff. From My Own Research, I have found that No One can be Better than Anyone Else. In Other Words, It is Rude to say, “Haha, I make More Money, Have a Better Job, and A Better Girlfriend!” To Tell You The Truth, Everyone has to be Employed in Sweden, So There really is No “Better Job.” Now, My Focus hasn’t always been in Sweden, It’s been to Norway, The UK (which is Interesting), The Caribbean (Hello, Future Tropical Vacation!), and Believe It or Not, A New Place I haven’t thought of before, Australia. Australia (Pronounced Aus-Tray-Lia) is Said to be “The World’s Largest Island”, It is The Only Country that is Both a Country (Commonwealth, to be precise!) And A Continent. Australia is Interesting for Many Reasons including The Country/Continent Thing. So, I have been told, It seems The Wealthy People live in Cities like Sydney or Melbourne (Pronounced Mel-Bun) and The Poorest People live in places like South Australia, Not Sure if It is all true but, It is an Interesting Bit of Trivia. Sources tell me that There are People in Australia known as Bogans. Bogans, to say the least, are Stereotyped to be a combo of What They tell me is The Bronx of White People and Rednecks. To Describe what They look like, They have a Mullet and Their Hair shaved all the way back leaving a bit of Hair of the Back of Their Head. There is a Television Show in Australia called The Bogan Hunters and I did My Research about that and Other Shows in Australia. The Best Way I can describe The Bogan Hunters is a Show about looking for “Real Life Bogans” in a Crocodile Dundee way. According to The Host of The Show, Bogans live in The Suburbs of Cities, The Rich live in The Inner City, It is reverse like a lot of Other Things compared to The US. Speaking of that, Australia is in the South Hemisphere, hence The Nickname, “Down Under.” So, When It is Summer here in The US, It is Winter in Australia and Vice Versa. This is Something that Boggles My Mind about Australia because for Example, to Me, December means Christmas and Snow on The Ground, that is My Ideal Picture of The Christmas Holiday but, I cannot get My Head around Going to The Beach in 90 Degree Heat in Australia on Christmas Day. It is like, “Okay, Let’s Open Presents and Go to the Beach!” and The Children say, “Yay!” I am going to have to Take that 16 Hour Flight and See it all for Myself!

I have had Some Wonderful Friends and PTLS Family Members who have so awesome to Send Me Maps of Their  Part of The World. I sit and study each one and Then, Do My Research. All in all, I hope to One Day travel to all these places but, Until I will continue to Learn about The World.

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Learn about Your World. 

The Christianville Spirit: A Rant about Parents

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Uplifts Your Soul

June 4, 2014-TCS # 404

Welcome, My Readers! To a Fresh and Redone Site that is The Christianville Spirit! I decided that My Site needed a bit of Revamping, which was one of My New Year’s Goal. So, I hope You Guys enjoy it and Let Me Know what You think. So, Anyway, At the Recent Revelation, I know that it is always a shock to find out that Your Child has PTLS and You don’t know what it is or What to expect. To try and Help You Understand from My Prospective of having PTLS, How about I do this? I am going to do a Hilarious Rant, courtesy of Us PTLSers! This is to Prove to Everyone that We PTLSers are like Everyone Else. So, without further a due, Here it goes. 

Oh My Lord! I can’t tell you just how Worried My Parents are about Me! They are Concerned about Whether I am going to Eat, Walk, Talk, and Soo Many Other Things! First, The Eating. I am going to start Eating on MY Time, NOT Yours! It will be when I want to But, Please Feed Me something that I like! Even if It seems like The Most Ridiculous thing to always have the same thing every day, Day after Day, I like it that way. I may not like the texture, so it is going to take me time. On to Talking, as Chris Rock in Rush Hour says, “Can You Understand The Words That Are Coming Out of My Mouth!?” Because, let me tell you,  The words are Clear as Day in My Head! I know it must sound like I am speaking a Foreign Language to Them because It doesn’t seem like They Understand My Mumbles and Hums in Their Ears! I think I am speaking pretty clear, but they keep saying, “I cannot understand him. What is He saying?” So, I will work on making those words clear!

My Parents! They often take me to this Strange, Distressing, and Horrible Place, known as The Doctor’s Office! They poke and prod me like I am some of kind of Pin Cushion! I am just like You, Mommy and Daddy! I don’t Like It! I am sure I have to have these things done, but, I am a kid who does not Like it. So, Don’t Get too upset if I start Crying or not wanting to hold still, but do what you have to do to make sure I am healthy. Sometimes, I hear you getting upset either at Me or for Some odd Reason, because I am not doing what You want me to do. Really, I will progress and learn to do things, I just like to take my time. Just wait, it will happen when you Least expect it! My Parents! They take me to these Huge Places like Disney World as They tell me, “Ohh, This is going to be Soo Much Fun!” and There is SO MUCH NOISE! I can’t take it! Too Much Noise and Activity! I am Completely Overwhelmed! Tantrum coming in 3, 2, 1.  MOMMY, I WANT THIS THING! I DON’T WANT THAT! I wanna go Home! Once I am Home, Ahhhhh! Back to my  Nice, Quiet Routine. By The Way, I should mention that Routine is like Muy Important to me! You see, it helps me. I Have to Wake Up at The Same Time (“Rise and Shine” as My Mom says), Eat at The Same Time, and of Course, Go to Bed at the Same Time, even if It means 2 O’ Clock in The Morning, for The Older PTLSers. I know parents have a hard time with this, but, jeez! I really need it! Oh, and when I get to meet other “People like Me” at first, I’m nervous about it thinking, “Oh Boy” this is going to tough.  Then, I am Excited once I get to Know them. When I see or read about my fellow baby PTLSers, I say, “Hey! They are doing what I did when I was that age! Let’s Imitate each other!” Please understand, I gotta be near Kids who are what My Parents call “Normal Kids” Hum... What is That? I do not know the difference! As We get older, We will find out what that “normal” is, but, It is Okay with us. It really does not bother us, unless you keep reminding us that we are not “normal”. In my mind (as I like to say all the time), I thought I was. Oh! I forgot to mention My Parents take me to This thing that They call “Therapy”. Day after day after day I go to see someone who helps me with moving my mouth trying to get me to talk. Then It is someone who is trying to get me to move in a certain way. Oh, sometimes it is just too much for me. Again, here comes a melt down! I don’t know what it is, sometimes it seems fun, but Gosh, Let Me Do Things at My Own Pace! I promise you I will get there! I am not good with figurative language, since I am so literal, but I think I was taught in my “figurative language class”, I Will cross that Bridge When I get to it! Just wait for Me to get to the other end of The Bridge. But, I have to say that my parents are so worried and they lose patience. What am I to do with Them? I wish I could tell My Parents that I am and Will Be Fine, even though to Them, I might not seem like it. So, from me and my fellow PTLSers (Especially the Babies Who are just beginning this Life), It is really Tough trying to teach you Parents about Us. So, We will be patient and Keep smiling, because that is what we do Naturally, and Stay Happy, because that is how we see life, and Wait for you to learn. Life is Really good in our eyes. You are doing a Great Job! So, All in all, Gosh My Parents worry about Me! But, I Worry about Them too and I Love Them!

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Even Us PTLSers need to Rant!  

The Christianville Spirit: Uncle Craig's Last Week in Dallas

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Uplifts Your Soul

May 28, 2014-TCS # 403

So, Remember back a Year ago when I said My Uncle Craig would only be here in Dallas for a Year? Well, Unfortunately, It is the End of His Year Term here in Dallas Officially. We had a lot of Great Times with Him on little segments that I referred to as “The Uncle Craig Chronicles.” From Uncle Craig’s Tour of Dallas to Our Adventures with Him as well as Cousins Anna & Olivia. Let’s Not Forget The Fun Time We had with His Wife, Kellie. It was always a surprise with What we were going to see when We were with Him. Just before New Years, Uncle Craig, Kellie, and My Brother were hanging out at a Local Upscale Bar, when My Mom and I came over so that We could go to Dinner at the place down the street. A Guy started talking to My Mom and I, Well, Long Story Short, They went out on a Date and It was The First Date My Mom has been on in a While, I was Very Proud of Her. Anyway, so This week, I am writing the Final “Uncle Craig Chronicles” of His Year Long Term in Dallas. So, My Brother and I, along with Our Friend Spencer hang out every now and then. We’d always go out to Lunch or Dinner and spend some Guy Time Together. On Uncle Craig’s Final Night, He actually came to hang out with Us! Now, In Most of His Time Here, He would go out for a “Guy’s Night” with My Brother and His Friends but Not with Me; I’m not a Bar Scene kind of Guy, so that is why. Anyway, This Time (which was on Newsletter Day Last Week), I let Spencer pick the place. The Place was a Burger Joint called Kenny’s Burger House. It was a Pretty cool place and I didn’t know that They had a “Man vs. Food-like Challenge” there. It was a 7 Pound Burger that had 700 Calories. I didn’t do it and neither did anyone else but, We read the Sign for It and I’ll put it This Way, There were More People who Lost than Those who Finished It. The Time we had was Really Fun because Spencer had never met My Uncle Craig. I always would tell him about the Progress of Craig’s Work, but He never knew who he was until now. They were Very Impressed with Each Other. Spencer was impressed at Uncle Craig’s Knowledge (which Uncle Craig is Very Smart) and Uncle Craig was impressed at How Spencer takes me under his wing and Makes Me feel included in The Group. Right before We started Eating, I did a Toast for Uncle Craig’s Last Week in Dallas. After We had Dinner, My Brother wanted to go to “The Holy Grail” which is One of His Favorite Hangout Spots. Now, I don’t like going to Bars, like I said earlier, but This Place has a more of Mini-Pub kind of Bar. So, We sat Outside and Hung Out while watching all the People and Cars driving by. I’ve learned that If you have to go to a Bar and You don’t drink alcohol, a “Shirley Temple” (Sprite with Cherry Juice in It) is the best drink to fit in. Soda doesn’t always make you fit in at Any Bar. We got to have lot of a Good Conversations between All of Us and We enjoyed Each Other’s Company as well. After all that fun, we headed home. The Next Day, Thursday, which was also Lynee Watson Day (or Lynee Day for Short), was The Day that I saw coming Months in Advance finally came and I wasn’t happy about it. My Mom and I drove down to Uncle Craig’s Condo and Took Him to The Airport. I was Sad because of The Fact that It was Time for Uncle Craig to Go back Home to Ohio. It felt Normal to Me to have him in My City to hang out when He was in Town, but At Some Point I knew that, Unfortunately, the Normalcy of Him here wouldn’t last forever. So, My Mom and I dropped him off at The Airport and He was on His Way back to Ohio. On The Way Home, I did a “Lynee Day Observance” which was a Moment of Silence at 3:33Pm Eastern/2:22Pm Central to honor One Of My Best Friend’s Lynee from Elementary School who passed away in 2008. I hope that She continues to be My Guardian Angel. All in all, I Loved having Family in Town and I hope Uncle Craig enjoyed it here in Dallas.

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Family is Very Important. Spend as Much Time with Them as You Can. 

The Christianville Spirit: Celebration of Life

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Uplifts Your Soul

May 22, 2014-TCS # 402

So, Happy Lynee Day, My Readers! As You will remember, One of My Best Friends, Lynee Watson from Elementary School had passed on this day in 2008 and I found out about it 2 Years after She had past away. So, I celebrate her life as well as The Day She became My Guardian Angel, I named the day she died, Lynee Day in honor of Her. Anyway, on to This Week’s Newsletter, so after One of Life’s Crazy Weeks for My Mom and I, We had planned to go to Mississippi for a Horse Clinic that was benefiting PTLS, but There was some sort of Pull, if you will, that said “Don’t Go Out There Now. Go Later”. In other words, It was God saying that He had a Different Plan for Us. Well, on Saturday, which was The Horse Clinic, We decided to go for a little drive into The Country. Now, I was wanting to go to Lake Murray in Oklahoma because I heard that it was really pretty. But again, something told me not to go. I thought, “Oh No, This is going to be a Boring Weekend!” because after all, We weren’t going to Mississippi Or Lake Murray, so we settled on Pilot Point and took the back roads to get there. I’ll say, it actually was a Nice Drive going the Back Roads instead of the Most Direct Route. Sometimes, It pays to go the Back Roads! Anyway, so We drove over to this hotel/ranch on Lake Ray Roberts called Lantana, it was where My Mom’s Friend got Married once. Although, They were getting ready for a Wedding, It was nice to hear nothing (except The Workers getting the Chairs set up) and not have to Deal with “City Noise.” We stood there and looked at the view of The Lake, watching the boaters and seeing how low The Lake was. After that, We walked down a path from Lantana to The Lake, again, It was nice and quiet. My Mom and I were amazed at How Low the Lake level was with The Drought that we have been having. After We checked all that out , We drove down to a small town called Aubrey. Aubrey is a Blink-and-Miss-It kind of town and It is a Quiet Town. I should mention that There are a ton of Horses and Quite a few Horse Hospitals as well. After we visited Aubrey, We took the Back Roads back Home and Cooked some really good Mac n’ Cheese. That Night, I thought, “Okay, God. What is The Reason behind Staying in Town over Mississippi or Lake Murray?” I found out The Reason The Next Day. So, Sunday Morning, My Mom wakes me up and tells me, “Christian, We’re going to do 3 of Your Favorite Things!” She listed them slowly, “A Drive!” I said, “What? I thought we went on a Drive Yesterday?” My Mom continues, “La Hacinenda”(AKA My Favorite Restaurant in Town, Brisket Tacos are AWESOME there!) And, “Talking about PTLS.” So, a 3 in 1 there!  We got to meet another PTLS Member that lives here in town! It is really awesome though, because It makes Me feel less alone to know that there are PTLS Members in My Area and They are Growing, Slowly but, surely. As We were sitting at the table for a Late Lunch at La Hacienda, I heard a voice say, “There’s Your Reason” and I repeated in a low voice, “There’s My Reason.” In Other Words, That was The Reason to Stay in Town, It was to Meet Another PTLS Family. Now, that may sound little to You, but Sometimes, I forget (I’m going to sound as Humble I can) that PTLS Family Members need our help sometimes, Particularly, That They are interested in any of My Help. PTLS Members, Especially, the New Ones (And, Old Ones) need to know that Their Child will Eat, Talk, Walk, and So On. One PTLS Member told me that She wants to be able to have an Adult Conversation with Her Child and Honestly, When You are told that Your Child will never..(Insert What they Tell You Here), Who wouldn’t want to be able to have an Adult Conversation with Your Child. I Mean, You never know what You might learn from Your Child and Most People are, to say the least, Very Surprised at What They hear. They don’t realize sometimes that Their PTLS Child can hear, see, and pay attention to what The Parents are saying and Therefore they are Surprised when They say something and They are like, “Where in The World did You get that from?” So, I can tell you this because That is What I see in PTLS Members that I talk to. But, One Thing, I can assure you is that although Your Child may or may not have Challenges, They will do what Doctors says that They can’t do. So, Yes They will talk, They will Eat, and Yes, Even Eventually, They will be able to have an Adult Conversation with You in Their Own Way. All in all, I sincerely hope that Everything that we talk about when we meet or even through The Internet, that You are assured that Your Child will be Okay because I certainly am.

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Celebrate The Life of Someone who Passed Away But, Even More Celebrate Them while They are Here. Happy Lynee Day!   

The Christianville Spirit: TCS Series; Forgiveness (Part 3)

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Uplifts Your Soul

May 14, 2014-TCS # 401

So, My Readers, I hope You all enjoyed My 400th Newsletter Celebration Last Week. It was so Awesome that We have made it This Far! So, Onward We Go! As a Continuation of The Celebration of My 400th Newsletter, I’m going to conclude My 3-Part Series about Happiness. So, We have covered What Happiness means to Others and What it means to Me, but What can be next for Simplifying Happiness? The Next Way is through something called Forgiveness. I heard on The Dr. Oz Show that He says that in order to be happier, You have to Forgive Wrong-Doers as well as saying I’m Sorry for hurting people. So, that is what we are going to do! So, with out a further a due This is The Christianville Spirit Series, “Happiness...Simplified”! So, There is a saying that says, “Love means Never having to say that Your Sorry” Well, that is Partly True. That does not mean that You never have to say Your Sorry to Someone You Love. It just means that It is Much Better if You Do. So, What is Forgiveness exactly? Well, Part of It is Releasing the Guilt that The Wrong-Doer did. Now, It does not mean that They were Right about What They Did, nor Does that mean that They can come back into Your Life (which depending on The Case, If The Damage isn’t too bad, then Yes They can come back into Your Life) and Then, The Other Part of Forgiveness is Saying that You are Sorry for doing something to hurt someone, Either Intentionally or Accidentally. Dr. Oz says that after You do those things, It actually makes you Happier. I can see how it could make you Happier because It is Lifted Off of You and You don’t have to think about it anymore, as My Grandma Honey says, “It Was Five Minutes Ago!” So, For Example, I have a Forgiveness and an I’m Sorry Story to Tell You. You See, A Few Moms in The PTLS Family (who were both My PTLS “Aunts”) hurt us very badly emotionally. I refer to them as “Mom X” and “Mom X-2”. I only refer to them as that because I (as well as They) would not want their names on Here. But, You Know Who You Are. Anyway, It is Out of The Kindness of My Heart that I forgive both of You. It does not mean that it was right But, Most Importantly, I do Forgive You. So, The “I’m Sorry” One, comes from a Few Years Ago. There was a Girl who was My 2nd Girlfriend named Madison. After I broke up with Her, I was very upset and I called her a Bully. At This Point in My Life, Regardless whether I was right or wrong, I am Sorry to Madison for Saying That. I personally wish her a Ton of Success in The Direction that She is going and I hope to see her on The News one day, because She majored in Journalism. So, Those are My Forgivenesses. So, What is Your Forgiveness? According to Dr. Oz, We all have Someone who we made a Mistake to. It just takes The Willpower to Say, “I Forgive You for X-Y-Z” or “I’m Sorry for X-Y-Z.” All in all, It is Hard to say that Your Sorry or That You Forgive Someone. But, as long as You did it, Regardless of Whether They Accept it or not, You are A-Okay as My Brother’s Elementary School Teacher says.

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Life is a Roller Coaster, It goes Way Up and at times, Goes Way Down; It is the Balance of Life, like it or not.

The Christianville Spirit: (TCS Series) My 400th Newsletter (Part 2)

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Uplifts Your Soul

May 7, 2014-TCS # 400

Well, My Readers, It is The Moment that We have been waiting for, My 400th Newsletter! Yes, Ladies and Gents, 400 Newsletters that I have written! So, I am just as surprised as You are! I have been writing this Newsletter for 8 Years, since October 2006. At First, It was not Every Wednesday, it was more like Every Other Week and then, on Odd Days like Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday to name a few. I finally chose Wednesday to make it a routine and It stuck. I have been Writing Every Wednesday Faithfully with a Few Breaks or Vacations since then. Anyway, Since This is My 400th Newsletter, My Gift to You, My Readers for reading Each Week..Is A Continuation of The Christianville Spirit Series, “Happiness...Simplified”! So, Without Further Ado, This is The Christianville Spirit Series, “Happiness...Simplified”! So, Last Week I talked about What Happiness is, How to Spell It, and How People See Happiness. So, I’m sure that Leaves You Wondering all the days until Now, How do I see Happiness? Luckily, I am a generally Happy Guy, so It is not hard to make me Happy. But, Here is My List of What makes me Happy.

WHAT IS HAPPINESS TO ME

• To Tell You the Truth, I Like to see when People around Me are Happy. They are Happy and I am Happy
• My Number 1 Love Language is “Quality Time”, So I love it when I spend Quality Time with My Mom, Family, and Yes, even PTLS Family.
• If You Can Believe This One (Which Most People Don’t) I love Watching Movies, Particularly The Happy Movies like Romantic Comedies, Happy “Soulmate Movies” (Happy Romances), and Comedies.
• I’ll tie this one to The Movie part, You Know that part in an Action Movie where The Character is standing there and One of them realizes that a Something is about to blow up? Then, They say, “Uh Oh”, “That Can’t be Good”, or “Ohhh Crraaap!”and then, It blows up, Yea that gets me Laughing up a Storm. My Apologies for The Language Above.
• I love going on Drives! Whether that means Going on a New Road, New Neighborhood, and to a New Town. They are fun to Me because I get to See all the Road Signs (Front and Back), The Newness of a Road, and The Newness of a New Neighborhood.
• I Love to Cyber-Travel on Google Maps’ Street View. I go All over The World! I just pick a Place that I feel like going to and I drop The “Little Map Character” on a Road and I just start Driving around.
• There is a Part of Me that Loves Nature. I Love seeing Tall Trees. Each Time I go to My Grandma Honey’s House, She has this All Glass surrounding “Sun Room”. We in The Smith Family call it “The Tree House” because You wake up and You see all the Tall Trees surrounding You. That is probably why I have been dreaming of going to Atlanta because I know that There are Tall Trees, Nature, and Family, A Wonderful Combo!
• Family, I should mention is Very Important to Me. Being around Family makes me Happy because The Smith Family is Funny when They want to be and They Understand Me.
• I am Happy when I know that Someone understands Where I am coming from. That is Why I Love My PTLS Family so much! Because I know that They understand (or Try to Understand) Everything about Me. Why I am The Way that I Am.
• Being Accepted as Part of Society. It makes me feel that I am part of Something and Am Included.
• I enjoy Helping People understand about Me and PTLS, or Having Special Needs in General. I love Sharing My Uniqueness with PTLS Members as well as Everyone Else and Standing Up for My PTLS “Brothers” and “Sisters” who can’t speak. 
• It makes me Happy to Picture what My Life will be like with The Women of My Dreams, Bridgett. Sometimes, I picture us laying in a Hammock on The Beach on Vacation with Lots of Palm Trees and Turquoise Water, In a Very Relaxed Fashion, Cuddling Together. 
• And, Finally, I Love My Readers! The Readers who come and Read This Newsletter from Week to Week. I Love Writing to You like You are all My Friends (And, Some of You are!); sort of like What YouTubers Do, Only in Writing Form.

So, As You can see, That is What makes me Happy. I am really quite a Simple Guy, I don’t like Things that are Complicated. Things should not be Complicated. I know that Some People like Complicated, I personally do not. All in all, All It takes is to be Happy in Life! Like That Song, “Because I am Happy!” 

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. It’s My 400th Newsletter! Let’s Celebrate!  

The Christianville Spirit: (TCS Series) Happiness...Simplified- Part 1

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Uplifts Your Soul

April 30, 2014-TCS # 399

So, Considering that I am on The Eve Week of My 400th Newsletter, I have been thinking about How do I celebrate this one. I did a good Celebration around My 200th Newsletter (By Thanking My Readers) and My 300th Newsletter was Launching My “I Believe In Love” Campaign. So, The Question is, How do I celebrate the 400th Newsletter? An Update of “I Believe In Love”, I did that a while back. Something Inspirational? Oh Yeah, You Bet! So, How are we going to Celebrate It? With a The Christianville Spirit Series! This Series will be about Happiness. So, Let’s Do It! Without further a Due, This is The Christianville Spirit Series, “Happiness..Simplified” So, I have noticed that When You ask someone what Happiness is, They will tell you different things. but, The First Thing that You should Know is How to spell the Word. Some People spell it “Happyness” but, It is actually “Happiness” I learned that from The Movie, The Pursuit of Happiness. But, Here is The Question that boggles people’s minds, What Exactly is Happiness? My View I will tell you Next Week. This Week, however, is How I View Others seeing It. Now, Happiness, One would think anyway, means The Art of Being Happy. Smiling, Laughing, and even Laughing until You Cry. But, Sadly, Ladies and Gents, It can be Faked, like Putting a Smile on Your Face when You are Not Happy. So, How do People Perceive Happiness? To Tell You, The Truth...in Many, Many Different Ways.

For Some People, It is simply the Art of Love, whether that means loving Your Kids, Your Husband/Wife/Partner, Family, or Self Love. Although, Love of Friends or Animals also counts. With so many to name, I am going to list a few.

WHAT IS HAPPINESS TO PEOPLE...

• Some People are Happy with The Love of God. Worshipping God, Talking to God, Loving God!
• For Some, It is Wanting to Change things. There are People who live for Changing things like Changing (and, Rearranging) Furniture every 6 Months.
• It is having Lots of Money! If You don’t have alot of Money, You are Very Sad. Truth be told, There are People with alot of Money that are not Happy. It kind of goes with The “Money Can/Can’t Buy You Happiness” saying.
• It is having Things. In Big Cities, at least, It is said that The Bigger House, The Bigger Car, the Bigger Paycheck You Have; the Happier that You are!
• Some People, like Our Friend Delaware Dave or My Friend with a Trail Name of Bidet, would rather be Outside in Nature. For Both, It is The Art of Hiking Trails like The Appalachian or Pacific Crest. As long as You have a Backpack on Your Back and Smell of What They affectionally refer to as “Hiker Funk”, than You are Happy.
• There are People who are Happy, just relaxing on The Beach, Swaying in The Hammock, watching People and (slowly) Juust Reeellaaxxx.
• Speaking of People Watching, There are People who love to simply watch Other People. Take them to a Mall, an Airport, or A Festival, and They’ll just sit there and watch the Various People with Different Behaviors walk by.
• Some People like My Uncle Craig, love being out with People to Converse about Interesting Topics, from Politics, Life, or Philosophical Things.
• Some People like My Brother, like to do Certain Activities like Rock Climbing or The Art of..well, Art! He Loves Art and doing paintings/drawings/sculptures; the Whole Bit.
• Now, This One is not a Positive Happiness, but There are People who are Happy making and seeing others in Pain. They just love to see you react to whatever Hateful thing, They have to say. In Internet Terms, They call them “Trolls” or “Haters.” 

WHAT I SEE IN PEOPLE ABOUT HAPPINESS

But, What I see too much of is Unhappiness. Too many people who are Sad with Life, Sad about Their Children, Sad about Their Jobs, and Not Really Seeing a Happy thing around them. Being a PTLSer, I see too much sadness and Maybe People should see through My Eyes that Things are Great in My Eyes. The Song from Frozen, “Let It Go” I think is Popular for a Reason. Maybe People are trying to way to “Let It Go.”

So, As You can see, There are alot of Different Ways to Define Happiness. Some of Them are Good and Yes, A Few are Bad, but that is why There is so many definitions of Happiness. All in All, Your Happiness depends majorly on How you define Happiness.

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Don’t Worry, Be Happy!

The Christianville Spirit: Regrets in Life

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Uplifts Your Soul

April 16, 2014-TCS # 398

So, My Readers, This Week’s Newsletter has to do with Regrets. We all know that as much as We don’t want to admit that There are things in Our Life and Different Outcomes that We wish We could have done. Now, I’m not saying that We should live in The Past and As My Grandma Honey says, “It happened 5 Minutes Ago” whether it happened 5 Minutes, Hours, Days, Months, or Years ago, The Statement still applies. But, There are some things both Personal and Embarrassing, that I wished either I had done, not done, or said. I’m sure that Everyone has regrets and The Following are a few of Mine. There was a Time in My Life when My Speech was not The Clearest and I didn’t know how to Convey how I felt into Words about Certain Things. Now, This, believe it or not, Is a Common Problem with us PTLSers. You See, We know what is going on (You would be surprised to know, How Much We Know!) and How We feel about those Situations, However, We don’t know how to Convey How We feel about It. For Instance, In My Family, My Mom is the More Responsible Parent and My Dad is more of The Fun Parent but Not as Responsible. Now, Don’t Get Me Wrong, I have been to Some Interesting Places with both My Mom and My Dad. But, The Problem was My Dad took me to Places that were Overstimulating to Me, but I had a problem trying to convey that I was Overwhelmed or Overstimulated. Or I didn’t like whatever We were doing or The Things that My Dad (and, Family) was saying. But, I wish I could have told My Mom (and, Dad, if He understood) in a Clear Voice and Could say, “Mommy or Daddy, I didn’t like X-Y-Z.” If that did happen, It would have been a Different Result. The Next Thing that I regret (I hate using that word, because You should Live Life with No Regrets) and Still bugs me a little bit, is Something that happened in My Personal Life when I was starting out writing This Newsletter, TCS (The Christianville Spirit) Veterans will remember this. You See, I have a Friend, who is actually My Best Friend, that I have known since High School. Well, in June 2006, Just after Her Dad died, I decided to Date Someone that We will refer to as “My Best Friend’s Mortal Enemy”. Now, My Best Friend has told me about Her many times and So has My Brother and His Friends. But, Apparently, This Girl (Madison) took a liking to Me. Now, Not to sound un-Humble here but, I am a Handsome Guy! Now, Don’t Get Me Wrong, I loved having a Girlfriend and That taught me a lot, as well as Showed Me that going to The Homecoming Dance could be Fun! Homecoming, By The Way, Is Very Big in Texas! In Fact, It is like Prom, only a Bit Smaller and The Homecoming “Mums”, that is Another Story for Another Time. ANYWAY, The Time that I started dating Madison was went My Best Friend needed me to be there for Her but, I was Obsessed about Dating Madison and Madison did not want me talking to My Best Friend. It’s Effect was that I almost killed Our Friendship and To This Day, Our Friendship is not as Awesome as It used to be. We talked one time Online for 7 Hours. It was Notorious! Now, I probably would have never came up with My Dream Girl or Bridgett, for that matter but, I wish I could have been there for Her. Another Thing that happened in My Personal Life that I should have done differently. At The Time, I was in 9th Grade and was 15 Years Old.  One Day I was sitting in an Aqua Science Class and the Teacher did The Daily Role Call. When The Teacher said Everyone’s Name, The Person would say, “Here” or “Present.” About halfway through The List, The Teacher said, “Lynee Watson”. After that, I thought, “Lynee Watson?! I know that Name!” I turn around as She said, “Here” and The Memory of Her flashed in My Head. The Last Time I saw her, I was in Elementary School. By The Way, When I was in Elementary School, I had the Biggest Crush on Her and Needless to Say, I crushed on Her Again. It took me about a Week to get up The Nerve to talk to Her, after all, it had been many years since I saw her. After I reintroduced myself, She remembered me! Everyday I would see her, I say, Hey Lynee! and, Then, One Day I saw that Her and Another Childhood Friend were talking and I went up to them to see what They were doing. I Believe that Lynee said, “Will You Go Out with Me?” I was shocked! But, I didn’t know how to handle it or what to say. But, I said, “You Know, I could ask My Mom” and The exchange went on. She told me that She really liked me and Asked if I had Her Number and I said that I did because I remembered the Street where She lived. Anyway, It didn’t happen and She moved away shortly after. I never heard from Her since. By the time I found her again, It was too late and I learned that She past away a few years earlier. I do wish that I had been Mature Enough to Say, “Yes!” and Ask for Her Number. Now, This Wish of What I Regret, I will make up for because I believe that Lynee’s Spirit will return into My Life in the form of Someone very Special; The Women of My Dreams, Bridgett. The Final Regret is A Thought that still makes me Cringe when I think about it. You See, In High School, When I was in 10th Grade, I was in an English Class and We had to do a Romeo and Juliet Play. We all got our parts. I was Romeo, but The Question was, “Who was Juliet”. Juliet happened to be This Girl named Tamika. I knew it because I heard from across the room, “I HAVE TO KISS CHRISTIAN?!” and I thought, “Wait a Minute, What?!” I looked on The Script that was given to us and There it was, “Romeo (Me) kisses Juliet (Tamika)” and I blurted out, “I HAVE TO KISS TAMIKA?!” and She looked at Me like, “Seriously, Dude?!”. Now, The Thought of Kissing a Girl got me Very Nervous and I was Nervous that day and The Next Day too. I was Nervous because I have never kissed a Girl and I thought that I literally had to Kiss the Girl. When The Part finally came, Tamika and I just looked at each other, waved at each other, and that was it. But, The Thought of Me blurting that out and The Look on Her Face still plays in My Head from time to time. Every time I think, “Ugh! Why did I do that?!” If It was Different, I would have never blurted that out, in front of The Whole Class. 

So, All in all, Ohh The Regrets we have in Life, but Life keeps going on and as Grandma Honey says, “That was 5 Minutes Ago!”

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Don’t Live with Regrets!

The Christianville Spirit: My Brother's Climb

My Brother Rock Climbing


The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Uplifts Your Soul

April 9, 2014-TCS #397

So, I feel like I have not had a Chance to Brag a little bit. Now, I normally wouldn’t Brag but, This Time Only, I feel it is Necessary. You See, My Mom and I went to an Exciting Event over The Weekend that I really want to share with You. So, My Brother, Michael, is for lack of a better word, Fascinated by Rock Climbing. I mean, Whenever He has free time (Considering He goes to School at UNT and Works down here in Plano, He doesn’t have a lot of Free Time) He goes Rock Climbing. Well, Recently, He has found out about Rock Climbing Competitions that UNT holds every now and then. So, Early Saturday Morning (and, I do mean Early) My Mom and I drove out to Denton to go watch him and support him. Now, Again Considering that I sleep in Late, I got up early (at 7AM) on This Day to See My Brother Rock Climb; That is What I call “Brotherly Love.” The Last Time that I saw My Brother Rock Climb wasn’t that great of an experience, A Girl that He Dated, Dropped Him 15 Feet.  But, This Time, He did Awesome! The Basis of This Competition is that You Climb as Many Routes as You Can, Ranging in Difficulty and Racking up Points for The Harder Routes, as well as Not Falling and It is all done in 3 Hours. Yes, 3 Hours of Climbing! That can really wear on The Body! Anyway, When We first walked in, We met this nice girl named Sarah, She was a Funny and Sweet Girl as well as The Fact that She knew who My Brother was. After They read all the rules (which there were Alot of Them!), They had to Recite a “Climbers Creed.” It was pretty funny to listen to them yell out this “Climbers Creed.” One of the Most Funniest Ones They said was The Following, “Partner! Don’t Freakin‘ Drop Me!”. Another One was, “Partner! There are Alot of Good Looking Climbers This Year! Stay Focused!” With Each Creed that They had to Recite, They yelled “Partner!” because They had to Climb with a Partner, who also functioned as The Spotter for Michael and Vice Versa. The Final Creed in their loudest voice was, “Partner! Let’s Climb! But, DON’T FREAKIN‘ DROP ME!” and Then, they counted it down and Started Climbing. So, They rated each route by Difficulty, so a 15 was Relatively Easy and Something like 36 is Very Hard. So, My Brother started off Slow and Then, started to mix it up a bit. One of The “Proud-Bragging Moments” of Me watching My Brother was that He climbed an Entire 30! Now, Luckily, He had a few people cheering for Him and One Person who yelled out to Him to Stop and Rest for a second in The Middle of The Course. According to The Rules, You can Rest for a Few Minutes if You are Tired. After My Brother rested for a Minute, He continued on and Completed The 30! And, It was all in front of My Mom and I! After that, He took it easy with a Few Challenges, that is until Michael saw The 31, which included a Very Hard indentation in The Wall (Not from My Brother). I know, He probably looked at It, Thinking like Barney from How I Met Your Mother, “Challenge Accepted!”. And Boy, did He accept that Challenge! He tried 4 Times on This Route and The 3rd Time was The Closest One where He nearly got past that Indentation after Hanging Slightly Upside Down. And, Another Proud Brother Moment, My Brother had Pretty Much The Whole Room of Audience and Competition supervisors cheering him on! To Me, As Michael’s Big Brother, that Literally made me burst with Joy and Proudness that a Whole Room would Cheer for My Brother. It just amazed me! One Thing I noticed that is People in Denton, call Michael, “Mikey” where as People in Plano called him, “Mike.” So, After all those Routes, He was pretty tired so He took a little 20 or 30 Minute Break and then, tried the 27 and a few others. I’ll tell you, I didn’t hear of Anyone who had completed The 31 or The 30 for that matter. One Person who was Climbing the 30, said, “I don’t hear anyone cheering for Me!”. After all that, The Competition was Over and My Brother did so Awesome. I’m pretty sure that My Brother is going to Read This and Laugh to Himself, thinking, “Oh Geez!” After we watched the Competition, We went to Lunch at where His Roommate works and told them all about it. After Lunch, My Mom and I drove home and took a Nice Saturday Nap after getting up so early. All in all, It was a Great Time watching My Brother rock climb and for My Mom, It was her First Time watching him Rock Climb. I am Very Proud of My Brother!

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Life is all about The Climb, Even if It is watching Your Brother.

The Christianville Spirit: Birthday Party in Central Texas

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Uplifts Your Soul

April 2, 2014-TCS # 396

So, This past Weekend was a Fun Weekend because My Mom and I took a Nice little Drive somewhere. I’m writing about this as sort of An Honorable Mention that Someone requested me to do. So, A Couple Weeks Ago, PTLS Family Member (And, Great Friend), Mary invited us to down to Killeen/Ft. Hood to Her Daughter’s Birthday Party. Her Daughter who has PTLS, This Year wanted a “Rainbow Party.” So, My Mom and I took a drive down to Go see them and Go to Her “Rainbow Party.” One Thing I noticed, before I get into The Party itself, is that There is ALOT of Construction along I-35 between Hillsboro and Temple! They are Widening The Highway to 3 Lanes each way, where when I was growing up, it was Two Lanes Each Way. Anyway, on to The Party! The Party was Really Fun and Well Worth driving down there. I figured that It had been long enough since I saw Mary, because It was a Year Ago at The PTLS-Dallas Gathering. One Thing that was different this time was That I got to see Mary’s Mom, Valerie from Upstate New York (actually, North of The Adirondack Area). Valerie, By The Way, is The Honorable Mention that I talked about before. I got to talk to her about Different Things like The Sochi Olympics and Lake Placid, Where She is from, What The Weather is like there, How Pretty it is There, Among Other Things. She also got to hear a little bit about PTLS from Me talking to Mary and My Mom. I do wish that I could have talked to her in a bit more of a Quiet Setting, because with a Bouncy Castle and Lots of Kids, it is not easy to keep concentration. At One Point, Mary and I hopped into The Bouncy Castle with some of The Kids. Mary and I even had a Race back and forth bouncing on Our Knees. It was Fun! It actually felt comfortable sitting in “The Castle” because It was cool while it was pretty warm outside. It also had two little openings on the roof of it and You could look up at The Sky (or at Night, The Stars). Another Fun Part was that Another Family, Chris and Cindy with Their Kids came to The Party too! Cindy along with Myself and Mary, hopped into The Bouncy Castle, so We sat and Hung Out with them while the Kids were jumping around us. Cindy said that She liked The Shirt I was wearing, My “Christianville Spirit Shirt.” Chris got their daughter to jump in The Bouncy Castle which I was Very Proud of Her for. I’ll say that The Meal we had at Mary’s House was really good. She made Pulled Pork Sandwiches and They were Awesome! Now, I have to tell you a Funny Story about The Drive back Home. You See, At The Time, It was Dinner Time but, I wasn’t really that Hungry but, I knew I wanted a Small Dinner, so we stopped in Temple to get Gas and stopped at McDonalds to get me something. Well, as We were pulling out of The McDonalds Parking Lot, My Mom all of a sudden said, “Wait! Is That a Chicken!?” I thought, “Did she just say a Chicken?!” Well, It turned out that There was a Live Chicken pecking away at the Brush behind The Drive-Thru. So, My Mom and I sat there for a Few Minutes, just wondering Why There was a Chicken near a Drive-Thru and In the Middle of The City. I mean, Picture This for Me, We are behind a Drive-Thru with a Street behind us, on the other side on The Building AND The Highway not far either! My Mind went quickly to The Fact that My Brother has Chickens in His Backyard in Denton and Thought, “It would be Nice to have a 3rd Chicken for Michael!” My Mom, luckily, because She didn’t know how to catch a Chicken, She called Animal Control (which was Closed for The Night) and then, called The Police. Police came and were shocked at the fact that There was This Chicken in This Busy Area. Before We left and The Police hopefully took care of it, I saw it flap it’s wings and fly from The Ground to a Tree, with a Barbed Wire Fence separating it. It left us with Quite the Funny Story. If My Mom knew how to catch it and had a Crate, We could have taken it to Denton and Michael could have it roam in His Backyard, but It is a long way unfortunately from Temple to Denton. I think, though, That God sent us to stop for Gas and Food in Temple for The Reason of at least trying to Save This Chicken. Otherwise It would have either been ran over or picked up by The Nearby Restaurants and turned into Dinner. After That, We drove back and saw the skyline of Downtown Dallas dark (There were No Lights on The Buildings) , little did We know that It was “Earth Hour.” Honestly, I love seeing The Front of The Dallas Skyline both during The Day or At Night. But, Considering that We live on The Northern Side of The City, You don’t get to see the Front of The Skyline (from The South) very often. All in all, It was a Great drive both To Central Texas and back.

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Take a drive, You might just save a Chicken!