The Christianville Spirit: Mother's Day, My Favourite

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Keeps Learning with Hope and Resilience

May 9th, 2018-TCS # 592

Happy Mother’s Day, My Readers! This Sunday is Mother’s Day here in The United States. And, Happy Mother’s Day last week to My PTLS Moms in Spain!

 It seems kinda sooner than I thought that It was. It feels like It should be Later. Perhaps, With Everything that was going on Grandma Honey, I Lost Track a Bit. Yes, It is that Time of Year, A Time to reflect, Love on, and Thank Your Mom! Boy, I’ll Tell You, This Year is definitely a Year to reflect on Having Your Mom. I Love My Mom Very Much! I don’t know What I would Do without Her! Most Times, I Love Her to Pieces but, There are Times, like any Mom, that You are driven a Little Nuts. I am reminded of a Story from My Childhood about My Mom, not driving me nuts, but How I Love Her. Now, as a Child and Present Day, My Dad is not The Best so, I just loved My Mom more. I believe it was a Questionnaire, I think for My 5th Grade Graduation for Me to see Later in Life and to see My Likes and Dislikes along with My Favourite (I like that spelling!) Things including TV Shows, Thing to Do, and Of Course My Favourite Holiday. At The Time, I answered that My Favourite Holiday was Mother’s Day because I Loved My Mom. Now, that is not to Say that I love her less now or that Mother’s Day is not my favorite holiday. I mean, I Love Mother’s Day, not as much My True Favourite Holiday, Christmas. But, Still I think it is funny that I wrote that. Anyway, so onto This Week’s Newsletter! It explains a Question that People always Wonder but, also Love to Wonder. As a Reminder, This Newsletter is a Christianville Classic, So You can check out This One and Many Others, on My Christianville Classics List. This Christianville Classic is called “Why We Have Moms”. Enjoy and Happy Mother’s Day!

This Week, I am going to Rerun a Gold Newsletter that I had Written about Mother’s Day. A Bit of a Background here though, First of All, the Basics, This Newsletter was written on May 15th of 2013 (Refer to Newsletter 351). I’m not sure if I mentioned in The Newsletter below about The Origin but, Before This Newsletter entitled “Why We have Moms”, I had written one about “Why We have Children” so, If You Will, The “Why We Have Moms” was sort of an Extension, A Sequel to The “Why We have Children” Newsletter. (Refer to Newsletter 273; November 2011). Anyway, I hope You know You PTLS Member Moms are Brilliant (I Love that Word!) Moms and My Mom is By Far, The Most Brilliant! Enjoy!

So, As You all know, Sunday was Mother’s Day here in The United States, I say that because Mother’s Day is on a different day in other parts of The World. But, Anyway, Mother’s Day is a very important holiday to Me because of one thing that I am ever grateful for, My Mom, as well as Moms in general. Moms are Awesome! But, Why do we have Moms? Now, I’m sure you are reading this, thinking, “Why do We Have Moms?! What kind of Crazy Question is that?!” and others would wonder and ponder about it. So, I’m going to answer that question, “Why Do We Have Moms?”. Well, Truth is, there are a lot of reason why, but here are MY Reasons Why.

1. They birthed us; through hard labor, sometimes, Hours of it. In My Mom’s Case, A C-section that she felt the whole time (the anesthesia didn’t work!)  
2. They are our Secondary Quilt, Beanie Baby, or Blankie when we are Babies (Because We like to Snuggle)
3. They are “Best Friends” when we don’t have any Real Friends and They always will be, whether you like it or not.
4. In The 90’s (And, Probably still now) They are Our Seat Belts when someone slams on their brakes. Even though We already have our Seat Belt on.
5. They are our Protecter, Guard, and Guard-Rail Fence against Evil, Mean, or Hurtful Forces.
6. (If You Let Her Do This One, You are Lucky) They are Your Matchmaker. As in, walking up to the Prettiest Girl around and saying, “Hey, Check Out My Son, He’s a REALLY Good Catch!” and You always say, “Moooom!”. But, You never know if that girl might be the Girl of Your Dreams!
7. If You have a Bully or Hateful/Hurtful Person in Your Life, “Momma Bear” will come out and it will NOT be Pretty!
8. In My Case, If You have Special Needs, Your Mom will go to all lengths to get you what you need, help you in anyway possible, and be there for you when you need her. Even going through many teary-eyed and bull-headed IEP Meetings!
9. They know what is best for You, Way before You Do.
10. Most Importantly, They are Your Mother and Whether You Like it or Not, They will be the only person besides Your Soulmate that will be by your side Forever!
11. When It comes to Your Dreams, They will be do One (or All) of A Few Things; Be right beside You as You ride through It (like My Laser Hair Removal), Help You in The Middle of It, or Cheer The Loudest for You (Who is That?! Oh, That’s My Mom!) along The Side Lines.
12. In The Moment that You say, “I Do”. She will be There. Most likely in front cheering, following being in The Back, Crying Her Eyes out. (Ohh Mom!)
13. When You Graduate from High School or Any Life Event that is Important to both of You. Yep, She’ll be Crying there too. 
14. They will always be There if You need to have a Heart-to-Heart Talk or Vice Versa, Where They have a Heart-to-Heart with You
15. They will let You go Where ever You want when You are an Adult on Three Conditions. One, It is not Dangerous. Two, It is not a Stupid Decision and, Three, You shall at some point, Come back and Live Near Mom (Or at Least, That is My Own Old-Fashioned Mom) Are You Listening, Michael?!
16. They will be Honest with You. Sometimes more than You want them to. But, Believe Me, You will be Grateful in The End.
17. They will have Many Talks with You. In One of Three Versions; Either a Heart-to-Heart Talk, “Step into My Office”(Sometimes Good and Sometimes Not) , or “A Come-to-Jesus Meeting”.
18. She’ll be there to Pick You Up if You are Down and Cheer when You are Up.
19. In My Case, they are your Road Buddy or Your Chauffeur when you want to go somewhere. By The Way, That is a Condition that Can not be taken advantaged of. 
20. This may sound a bit too Honest, but from a Man’s View, Let’s face it, Your Family, Your House (applying to Guys), and Your Life would be a Mess without Your Mom.
21. No Matter How Young or Old You are, It is Perfectly Okay to say that You need Your Mommy.

 So, Those are My Reason as to “Why We Have Moms”. All in All, My Mom and I have always had this system where I ask her, “Mom, Why do you do this?” and she answers, “It is in The Book of Moms!”.

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Cherish Your Mom, She is Your Best Friend!

The Christianville Spirit: Family Emergency in Atlanta

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Keeps Learning with Hope and Resilience

May 2nd, 2018-TCS # 591

Cherish The Ones You Love, My Readers! Yes, This is a Different Greeting and Boy, Do I mean It! This is going to be a Rather Difficult Newsletter because It was Something that I had not really planned on Writing nor, Planned for. You Know, There are Times in Life, When It throws you a Big Curveball at You, like a Coach throwing a Baseball at You to Test Your Attention. Sure, You grab that bat and hit it, But, then, You yell “What The Fettuccine was That For?!”. Yes, Life does that sometimes. Also, Sometimes The Catfish in Life, not always a Fake Catfish, nips at Your Fin hard! So, What am I talking about? Well, Here’s an Unplanned Edition to My Grandma Honey themed Newsletters These past Couple Weeks. So, My Grandma Honey, as I have told you, She lives in Atlanta. Easy to say when Things are Planned and are going Right. It is only a 12 Hour Drive, a 2 Hour flight, and an Hour Difference between us, right? At Least, It is not a 15 Hours Drive or a 3 or 4 Hour Difference. Yeah... Well, What happens when There is a Family Emergency and You have to get there, like 2 Hours Ago kind of Thing. Now, Okay, Knowing Grandma Honey is getting, ahem (Clearing Throat) Younger each Year, It is something that We have to start Mentally Preparing for. Now, This Family Emergency was only a Smidge close to “The Big Emergency”, had we not reacted in Time. You See, Last Saturday, My Grandma Honey was doin’ her thing, going to Her Nail Salon when She started to have a Fainting Spell. They were pretty close to either Calling Security or Calling 911. She figured that It was only Temporary, Something that like A Headache, You can just sleep it off. Now, Whenever Grandma Honey has a Health Problem (She is Very Healthy, by the way!), A Health Question, or Just to Show off Her Daughter’s Talents, She calls My Mom. Minding You here, that We live in Dallas.... Texas. But, She does it anyway and Honestly, We thank God for it. So, Sunday comes and She is not much better, therefore, The Lovely Neighbor, Sarah called 911 and My Grandma Honey’s Favorite Firemen (“Her Boys”, as She calls them); The Ones who She sees at her Waffle House and Pays for Their Breakfasts; They came to Save Her! So, Now, Grandma Honey is in The Hospital at This Point. Both My Mom and I are freaking out wondering What on Earth is going on. Grandma Honey along with Doctors and Nurses, where on The Phone with My Mom every couple Hours with Updates. My Mom grew Tired of This Very Quickly. Medical Things and Distance does not Work! So, A Couple Days Later, My Mom gave me The Option of either Staying Here at Home for an Undetermined Amount of Time, I was thinking either a Minimum of 3 Days and Maximum of a Week or Longer, or We just hop in The Car and Drive out there. So, My Mom got home and Both of us literally Packed within an Hour, and were Out The Door. Now, My Anxiety was Sky High, on Top of The Slime Issue that I had the Last Time I went to Atlanta, Literally Two Weeks before, and Sarah took care of that after We got there, and Of Course, That Fear of Assuming The Worst. I mean, My Neighbor had to go out to Tennessee for Her Mom and She ended up out there for 2 Months. I digress. My Mom and I agreed that It was Better for it to be Nothing and Go to Atlanta rather than Something and We felt Stupid for Not Going. 

Now, Of Course, This “Family Emergency” Drive did not come without It’s issues, The Back Window of Our Car messed up and Luckily, Grandma Honey’s Many Connections over The Years, Her “Car Guy”  fixed it for Us. After We got to Atlanta, She was released from The Hospital later that Evening, Again Thank God for That, because We did not think that We would make it for Her Discharge from The Hospital. So, after that, My Mom and I spent a Week helping her recover as well as Trying to Figure out what was wrong with Her. Her Legs Hurts for about Two Years and She was starting to show Dementia-like Behavior, but We (or at least I) just thought It was just Age. After about a Day, We figured out What was wrong. First Off, at The Hospital, They tested her for Literally Everything and Her Heart and others, Came out Perfect, Very Above Average for Her Youngness. It turned out that It was....Wait for It. Extremely LOW Potassium and Lack of Water. Yes, as in Bananas! Bananas are The Most Well-Known Food that has Potassium along with Avocado, Kale, Baked Potato or Sweet Potato, White Beans, and Brussels Sprouts, to name a few. I struggled with Figuring that out in My Head because I could not understand how Something as Small as Potassium or It’s Brother, Sodium (Salt in Regular English) can cause such a Problem, at least compared to Heart or Lungs, which I am sure The Doctors thought it was. No One except My Mom knew that the Issue was Lack of Potassium and Lack of Water. I mean, Her Potassium Level was Dangerously Low, It could have Killed Her had Her Lovely Neighbor, Sarah called 911. So, after The Stresses of Disaster, like The Window of Our Car or The Testing of The Fire Hydrant, Right next to Our Car, We did lighten up a Little Bit. I think The Most Funny Thing that Watching Grandma Honey try to talk to Her Neighbors, Friends, and Family with The Raspy Voice She got from Her Upper GI. It was Pretty Much a Whisper. It got better over Time though. One of The Best Things that We had over This “Family Emergency” Trip was All of The Love and Concern from Everyone including Her Neighbor Friends; Her and My Mom’s High School Friends; Her Waffle House People (including “Her Boys”); Even My own Readers as well as PTLS Family Members around The World! So, with that said, I Thank You all so much, for The Bottom of My Heart, that You reached out for Concerns for My Grandma Honey. It not only Showed us How Much People care for Her, but, Most Importantly, It is Showing Her just How Much She is Loved. In All Honesty, We should all get to Hear How Much we are Loved, by Friends, Family, Neighbors, even Strangers. Truth be Told, Most People have No Idea and Sadly, They end up Dying and All The Love that should be heard when They are Alive, Ends up Flooding when They can’t hear it. Now, Perhaps, They can hear it in Spirit, but Still. This “Family Emergency” Trip has also showed all of Us, Smith Family and otherwise, How We react and deal with such Events. Like I said, Preparing The Big One. I personally am hoping It does not happen anytime soon. By The Way, If You ever see The Video that My Mom took of Grandma Honey walking, when My Mom says “Boobs Out”, that basically is Our Code to Her to mean “Stand Up Straight”. If You want to Help, Keep in Contact with Her if You know Her. Make Sure that She is doin’ Her Thang as well as Taking Her Potassium and Drinking Water as well. Come to Think of It, We all should Take Our Potassium and Check The Levels Every Once and a while. All in All, It is One of Those Hard Life Lessons that You have to learn. Not just Yell at The Coach for It, but Wonder Why He did that.

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. When Health throws You Curveballs, Go with It!

The Christianville Spirit: My Three Biggest Triggers

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Keeps Learning with Hope and Resilience

April 11th, 2018-TCS # 590

Let’s Talk, My Readers! So, as The Late Joan Rivers would say on Her Show Fashion Police, “Let’s Talk” and This is a “Let’s Talk” Newsletter indeed. It was her Trademark Line on that show when It came to Challenging Talks about Who wore what The Worst to What Event, and trying to criticize that without either Shaming them too much, or Making them feel horrible for Whatever They wore that They paid pretty much a Million Dollars for. I digress. So, Let’s Talk! So, This is going to a rather Challenging Newsletter for Me so Bear with Me. So, Let’s Talk about Two Things, Crazes and Triggers. Yes, That Triggers! So, In case You are not into Pop Culture, The Word, “Trigger” (or “Triggered” to be more precise) is a Common Word among Young People, It basically means “To be Upset at or With Something”. The Best Example I can think is When Patriotic Americans (My Name for “Trump Conservatives”) call those Opposite of Them, “Triggered Liberals” basically, People who are of Libertarian Decent getting upset about Something Political, Trump-related or not. Now, That is My Political Mind speaking, This is what This is NOT about. Anyway, Then, We have to talk about Crazes. Every Generation goes through Some Kind of Craze like Furbies, Different Video Games, Challenges (like The Cinnamon Challenge or The Most Recently, The TidePod Challenge). Now, When I was growing up, It was a Number of Things including Furbies, Geo-Pet (Something like that), and My Least Favorite, A Toy called Nickelodeon Gak) For Me, Just to Hear, See, Speak, or Even Write that Word makes My Stomach Turn. Now, These Days the Craze about town Turned to Slime. Which is like The “G-Word”, We will call it. But, It has come back up in what is Called “Slime-making Videos” on YouTube. It is Easy to make, So I am told. I am also told that Above All Videos on The Internet these Days, It is The Least Negative and Pretty Much The Only Type of Video that does not Play any kind of Message or Politics. So, Back to Triggers, We all have Our Own Triggers (Or Things that Upset Us a lot) , Whether It is Claustrophobia (Tight Spaces); Elevators (Believe Me, that was a Huge Trigger growing up.) I blame Grandma on My Dad’s Side telling me a Story of Her getting stuck in an Elevator. To This Day, I am Okay about it but, I would Rather not be in The Elevator by Myself for Very Long; Fear of Heights, Among Many Others. So, Here’s a Question, I am sure that You are Asking. What are Mine, and What is The Point? So, Mine are Gooey Substances like Gak, Slime, Silly Putty (or Silly Putty Equivalent), Silly String, and Anything that might look like It); Babies Crying (Basically, Something that can not be Controlled); and, Finally, People/Animals in Distress (Basically, People Crying, Being Upset, or Screaming for Help). So, Then, What happens when All Your Triggers occur at The Same Time. 

Now, I noticed that All Three Happened while I was in Atlanta recently. Some Part of Me knew that At Some Point during Whatever Craze is Happening that I would eventually run into It somehow. You can’t get away from Crazes! For Example, Gak (The G-Word), They made it in My Class when I was Younger, Sold It at an Economic Fair back in 4th Grade, and Of Course, The Newest Craze at The Time, “The Nickelodeon Store”. This is the First Trigger I want to talk about. Anyway, so Until a Couple Years ago, Kids only came to visit The Complex where My Grandma Honey lives, until They built a School down the Street from Her House. Today, There are More Kids living in Grandma Honey’s Complex. So, Kids naturally want to be Entrepreneurs, It is The American Way after all. For Some, It is selling Lemonade, and They do that during The Summer, but While I was there, They were Selling Slime. They had The Computer to show the making of it and They set Prices for Each One They made. Seeing This when I arriving, Made My Nerves shoot Way Up. My Stomach was pretty much in Knots the whole time I was there, for Fear that Someone in My Family might buy it, and The Kids may come and Visit with it in Their Hands. Thank God, They did not, but Still. I had a talk with my Grandma Honey about this and she understood. It was just the Anxiety of what might happen that bothered me all weekend. 

The Next Trigger is Babies Crying, or in Distress. I understand that Babies cry, It is what They do. It is Their Language. Not Sure Why We call it “Crying”, But We do. “We were Babies at One Time”, My Grandma Honey says. and, She is right. In Fact, She was once a Baby. It is just amazing how a Human can come out of Another Human! Now, Don’t Get Me Wrong, I don’t Hate Babies. They are Cute and Cuddly, They make funny Noises, They smell Good, and When They are Old Enough, They can Laugh. However, Babies do Cry to get what They need. I don’t like when Babies Cry. Now, If it is something that is Short-Term, like If They Need a Bottle because They are Hungry; They have a Poop in their Diaper or They want to be Held. That is Simple. Just do what They need. However, If Babies are Crying because of Teething, In An Airplane, If Something that can not be done to Stop The Crying. Then, To Me, They are in Distress. When They are in Distress, I feel the need to Help and If They can’t, then I feel Helpless and It gets me all Upset along with Them. The Time at Grandma Honey’s was Okay. Baby Jace was a Quiet Baby. There are Babies that are Quiet like I was, I hardly ever Cried when I was a Baby and Then, There are Those that Cry all The Time, like My Brother when He was a Baby. By The Way, He would not JUST Cry, He would Scream and Cry. When I was Younger, When My Brother would Cry, I would Cry with Him because I felt like How He felt. Now, Even though Baby Jace was a Quiet Baby, I did not know that before hand and It caused My Anxiety to Panic because I knew that a Baby was coming and I did not know What to do or Where to go in The Event that He cried a lot. Considering The Kids with The Slime outside, I had Less Options.

The Third Trigger is People and Animals in Distress. If People are Upset, Crying, Confused (like Dementia), or Animals Whining, It bothers me! Like The Babies, I can not do anything to help them so, I feel Helpless. If I can give The Person a Hug, then It helps me a little, like The Lady at Great Clips. So, For Example, My Aunt Carolee was Angry-Distressed at Something and I did not how to help, so I tried to get My Mind on Something Else. The Problem is I never know when It is going to Happen. 

So, When I was Younger, I did not know how to Handle My Triggers and Other People did not understand me. My Mom knows When I am experiencing These Triggers and She helps me learn how to Handle Them. These and Other Triggers are common in us PTLSers, It just takes others to understand us. All in all, Having Triggers is not Fun but, Once You learn to Manage Them, It becomes Easier.

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Triggers are a Part of Life. Learn How to Manage Them. 

The Christianville Spirit: Conversations at Great Clips Story

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Keeps Learning with Hope and Resilience

April 4th, 2018-TCS # 589

Ciao, My Readers! That is a Greeting among Friends in Italian. So, My Grandma Honey; There is Something You should know about Her. If You ever were to Meet Her, Talk to Her, Hang Out with Her, You would be Friends faster than You could say “Who is This Woman?!” My Grandma Honey, Miss Jan, The GA-Honey! That’s Who! As Far as You are concerned, She is Royalty! Okay, so She may not be Literally Royalty but, In Our Family, She pretty much is! I can just imagine saying in a Deep Royal Voice “Your Majesty Grandma Honey”. If You wanted to erase The Awkward Silence of Standing near Someone, She’s Your Gal. Need to be Introduced to Someone that You may like, Count Her in as Your Wingman err... Wing-Woman! In our Family, If She ever flew to see us and Many Times in Her Life, She has, You are Guaranteed that She will come out into The Arrivals Area with a New Friend (or in Some Cases, New Friends) that She met on The Airplane. She will not JUST be Friends with Her Neighboring Seat Buddies, but Those in The Seats in Front, Back and Across! It really is a Spectacle to Behold! Of Course, It does rub off on Us when The Opportunity presents Itself. Take The Story that I am about to Tell You. This is a Prime Example of Grandma Honey’s Wing-Woman-ship. So, Me and My Mom went to Atlanta for Grandma Honey’s 80th Birthday, It was a Big Deal! On Top of The Party that We had for Her at Her House; She also got to meet her First Great-Grandson, Jace. 6 Generations that She has seen, Isn’t that amazing?! Anyway, It was while We were in Atlanta for This, that This Story occurred. So, Grandma Honey figured that while We were waiting for My Uncle Bruce to come over, that She needed to get her Hair cut. I figured that My Hair was Long too and My Mom was probably going to cut it once We got Home, so Why not do it while We were in Atlanta. To Great Clips, We go! Now, The Thing about Great Clips is that You have to either Show up and Wait (Or Not, Depending on The Day), Call Ahead, or Reserve Your Place Online. Considering that It was a Friday Afternoon and Atlanta’s Spring Break was getting ready to start, Grandma Honey called ahead to let them know that We were coming. The Second Thing, You should know is that Things go One of Two Ways at a Hair Cut Place, either You meet a Ton of People that like to Talk or Those that Like to be Alone with Their Thoughts and Get their Hair Cut. This was not One of Those Days. So, We arrived and It was rather Busy. Only Two People cutting Hair and quite a Few People sitting and waiting, most of Them were Those that had Set Up Online to come. Or, at least, that is what I guess. So, First, comes a Family that We did not really talk to. one of those Come In-Cut, and Go on. It was not until after I got My Haircut that things started Happening. It was going to be Me getting Hair Cut, then My Mom, and then Grandma Honey. I told a Very Friendly Great Clips Lady that We were There to celebrate Grandma Honey’s 80th Birthday. “You see the Red Head over There, It’s Her!” Anyway, after I sat down after My Cut, I moved from Sitting looking at The Door over to Where Grandma Honey was sitting. In Walked This Lady that seemed a bit upset at Something. She had Reserved Online but, She had Showed up Late and They told her that She would have to wait another Hour to 30 Minutes until She could get her Hair Cut. She got More Frustrated, not wanting to Wait 30 Minutes or more. I decided that I should move over to Talk to Her, because There was My Seat, a Wall separating, Grandma Honey, an Empty Chair, and The Lady. So, That is where I sat. I said Hello and at that Moment, She pretty much cracked. It turned out that Her Friend’s Husband had Killed Himself and She had just Found Out on The Way over, therefore causing Her to be Late. So, My Grandma Honey being The Wonderful Wing-Woman that She is, gave her Her Hair Cut Position and Grandma Honey would wait until She was Done. Before The Lady went to get her Hair Cut and I asked her if It would be Okay if I hugged Her and I did it. As She was Leaving, after She got her Hair Cut, She thanked Me. I helped her in What was a Horrible Day for Her and Was going to be a Horrible Atlanta Spring Break. See? Grandma Honey’s Wing-Woman-Ship rubbing off on Me. After I sat back down, In Came a Guy with a Polo Shirt with an Atlanta Braves “A” on it. I wondered in My Mind, does He work with The Braves, The Ballpark, or Just an Atlanta Braves Fan with a Nice Shirt on? So, My Grandma Honey worked her magic and told him about Me and, about PTLS. She pretty much Introduced me to Him, and I asked if He worked at The Ballpark or Just a Fan. It was Opening Weekend for The Atlanta Braves after All. Anyway, I told him a little bit about PTLS, We talked about Geography, the Atlanta Region, and Of Course, Sports among Many other Things. After I was Done talking to Him, I moved back to The First Chair I sat in on The other side of The Wall. Then, Came a Man in a Wheelchair sporting a Sticker. I tried Very Hard not to stare while I was trying to see The Sticker. Again, My Questions came in My Head like Why is He is in a Wheelchair?, He looks like a Veteran. So, that was My Lead-On. I asked Him after saying Hello saying, “Are You a Veteran?” It turned out that He was not but, He worked with Veterans. It turns out that He was a Producer of a Documentary called Love after War, It is about Couples that are “Wounded Warriors” trying to figure out Intimate Relationships after One of Them coming back from War. It turns that He is a Relationship and Sex Therapist, His Name was Dr. Mitch. The Reason which He was in a Wheelchair and Therefor Understanding about Veteran and Relationships is because He had a Spinal Cord Injury. Of Course, At This Point, My Mom is done with Her Haircut and Grandma Honey is getting her Haircut now. My Mom, of course, Tells “Mitch” about Potocki-Lupski Syndrome (PTLS) as well as discussing that Maybe His Director Friend would be Interested in a Documentary about PTLS. He was Very Curious because Adults with PTLS and Their View of Being in a Relationship. He asked how I deal with Relationships. I told Him briefly about My “Dream Girl” before I came up with Bridgett, My “Woman of My Dreams”. He asked what details I had about Her and If I had had enough Details like Personality to make her fit. I did not get to tell him The Original Part of The Story that lead to that. After Talking to Him for a while, It was Time for Him to get his Hair Cut. My Mom and Him exchanged Contact Information to continue their conversation. Then, Finally came a Nicely Dressed Man and asking if My Grandma Honey was going to Some Local Event, I asked if He was The Mayor and He said “Something like that”. I later found out that It was The Mayor, The Mayor of Sandy Springs, The City that Grandma Honey lives in. 

After that, It was Time to go, head back to Grandma Honey’s House to meet with Uncle Bruce. This Birthday Event of Grandma Honey’s was certainly Rememberable, but A Story that will go on about My Trip to Atlanta was The “Conversations at Great Clips” Story! All in all, If You give it a Chance and Beat The Awkward Silence, You can really meet Very Interesting People!

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Everyone has an Interesting Story. Share Yours with People.

The Christianville Spirit: Life and Love, Grandma Honey's Way

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Keeps Learning with Hope and Resilience

March (Marzo) 27th, 2018- TCS # 588

Happy Birthday, My Readers! Okay, so This is an Odd Greeting but, It is quite meaningful. Now, Yes, It may or may not be Your Birthday This Month, although I know a lot of People who have Birthdays in March (“Marzo”, as I call it), but One Highlight Person wants to Wish You Happy Birthday even if It is not, My Grandma Honey. Speaking of which, Today is Grandma Honey’s Birthday. Happy Birthday, Grandma Honey! or Miss Jan, Ga-Honey, Mom or G-Honey, whichever You refer to Her as. My Grandma Honey, She is one of those People that

 would believe that Everyone’s Birthday should be Celebrated as well as Hers because She is Awesome. So, I had an Odd Theory when Thinking of My Mom’s Birthday. You See, I always write an Ode to My Mom, listing Things, saying “If It weren’t for My Mom then XYZ”. I would not be Born, for Example. Funny Thing though, It weren’t for Several People behind My Mom and I, I would not be Born. You See, Us as Young Adults and Children, even though We are taught so, think that We were Babies but, Our Moms and Yes, even Grandmas (or Grandpa) just showed up in Their Modern Appearances. We do not realize that believe it or not, Our Moms and Grandmas were once Our Age. What?! You would say. Well, It is True. For Me, If It weren’t for Grandma Smith (2x Great or “Great, Great”, There would not be My Great-Grandma Mimi; If It weren’t for Great-Grandma Mimi, There would not be My Grandma Honey; If It weren’t for Grandma Honey, I would not have My Mom; and, Finally, If It weren’t for My Mom, There would not be a Me. and, It goes in Circles every time. If You went further back in Your Family’s History, The Circle would go even further back. Perhaps, That is where the whole “The Circle of Life” from The Lion King comes in. Okay, Guys We have to Sing It together! I know that You know It! (Belting out on Song); “Thhhee Circllee of Liifffeee!” If You have Never heard of This Song, Please Watch the Disney Movie, The Lion King. Anyway, so That is Our Life Oddly Works. So, In Honor of My Grandma Honey’s Birthday I am going to Share via a Rerun about One of My Favorite Memories of One of Grandma Honey’s Birthdays. Enjoy and Happy Awesome Birthday, Grandma Honey! 

This Newsletter was written on April 3rd of 2013 (Refer to Newsletter 345)

So, Last Week, The Day after Newsletter Day, I took an exciting, although short trip. It was very special because we drove to Atlanta for My Grandma Honey’s 75th Birthday. You See, My Grandma Honey had been planning this party for Months because We usually have big parties for her at big ages. Only this time it was more planned by Her, instead of the Surprise Parties that we’ve had for her 60th & 70th Birthday. Anyway, so we drove to Atlanta on Thursday, It’s a 12 Hour Drive, but who’s counting. I mean, It’s a nice drive, once you get out of Texas and Through Louisiana. So, on Friday, we hung out at Grandma Honey’s House and then, Uncle Brian and I picked up Aunt Lynn, My Cousin Lyall, and His Wife, Dee-Ann and then, went to have dinner at Uncle Bruce’s House. It was really awesome because we had all of our family all in one place, which only happens every couple of years. I can tell you that I know Grandma Honey LOVES it when all of her Children & Grandchildren are all together, but that’s a Grandma for You. It was nice to see everyone and it is nice to meet Dee-Ann, Lyall’s Wife, who had never met us. She was a very nice person and I believe she handled meeting the family very well. Saturday, however, was The Party and It.Was. Awesome! It had a unique twist to it that most birthday parties don’t. You See, Grandma Honey’s very creative goal was to make it about Everyone’s Birthday (including Her Own). A Celebration of Life, Love, Family, and Friends as She called it, I called it, “Life & Love” because it was a mouthful to say that in a couple seconds while greeting everyone. I applaud and award Grandma Honey because this party was unlike most birthday parties, because most birthday parties are centered on one person and it can make the other people feel bad because maybe their birthday was a day before, the day after, or the week of (You know what I mean). A thought that it is occurring in my mind about this party is that it was sort of a “Thank You-Thank You” Party Idea. Meaning that, We thank Grandma Honey or Miss Jan for her Acts of Service that she does for us (Her Birthday) and She thanks us for our Acts of Service (Everyone’s Birthday). I think it’s a good idea for a party like that and I should mention that Everyone loved it, 70 People showed up, in fact. So, What did We do at This Party, You Say? We had a room at Maggiano’s Little Italy, we had an Open Bar,     Party Horns (they were a little loud for me), and Really Good Food. Now, Considering that My Family is part Italian, I’ve had a good appreciation of Good Italian Food. We had Chicken Piccata, Spinach Manicotti, Mostaccoli, and Lots of Appetizers. Between the Main Course & Desert, we had a nice Family Photo while Everyone was there. When Desert came, Grandma Honey wanted to do what she called a “Flash Mob” where a few people started singing “Happy Birthday to Everybody” and then, people would be surprised. The song actually turned into “Happy Birthday to Us” which was easier to say than Everybody. Of Course, We’ll all point out that one of the waiters had a Really Good Voice when he sung it. Now, We did get to have PTLS Member Aunt Joey and Uncle Chris show up as sort of a Surprise to My Mom and it was really great to see her because we haven’t seen each other in a while. It was really nice to see Ava and how much she has developed since the last time I saw her. She was dressed really pretty and talked much more than she did before, I love my Little Ava. Bottom Line, The Party was Really Awesome. That Evening, Me and My Cousins decided to go swimming at the pool at the hotel that they were staying at, little did we know, that someone had gotten sick in it the day before and they had to clean it. So, they sent us to another pool that we (again) didn’t know was an Outdoor Pool (it was 50 Degrees & Raining outside). Yes, Don’t Worry, we made good out of it because there was Hot Tub and a Pool. Well, My Cousin Olivia and I decided to “Live Life” and do a “Polar Bear Plunge” into the cold pool. Now, mind you, it wasn’t a real Polar Bear Plunge because it was March, but that Pool was REALLY Cold. It was a good experiment and something I probably would not do again but, it was fun to do. Olivia will probably use her new motto, “Live Life to The Fullest! Polar Bear Plunge!”. The Next Morning, Which I am clearly not a Morning Person, We had Breakfast at The Hotel and then, My Mom, Michael, and I were back on the road to drive back Home. All in All, though it was a short trip, it was nice to spend Quality Time with My Family and as You know, that is My #1 Love Language! In the words of Grandma Honey(or Miss Jan), “Celebrate Everyday, Life, Love, Family, and Friends”

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. You May Love them, Hate them and They may drive you Crazy but, they are still Family.  

The Christianville Spirit: Lessons with Kidneys

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Keeps Learning with Hope and Resilience

March (Marzo) 21st, 2018-TCS # 587

Bonjour, My Readers! Out of All the Greetings I use, I feel that is The One I use The Most Frequently. It is French for Hello, To Me, It sounds so Elegant, so Classy when It is Said. Say it with Me in Deep Classy Voice, Bonjour! So, on to This Week’s Newsletter. I have been prolonging this Newsletter because I don’t understand all My Kidney Stuff   and I don’t want to make it seem bad because It really isn’t, It just requires a Little Rerouting in How it works. So, First, Let me explain, My Kidney Episode. The Last Time, I had it was back in 2014, but This Time was less painful than The Last One I had. I basically felt it moving at 3 in The Morning. To Me, It was like I could feel it happening. It would Come, then Pain, then Click, and Fizz. That is The Best Way I can describe it. It made me a little worried, but, At least it was moving. Then, The Movements stopped, Each passing one, gobbled together and in came The Pain. This Time It came in The Middle of The Night, so I was up all night Tuesday Two Weeks ago with that. It took a lot of getting up to Get Sick (I did it 3 Times), I sat and rocked to The Pain and that helped a little bit. I was Very Frustrated that It came back again. I mean, I had a Pain once before, But that was My Intestines. I will tell you that It did not hurt as Bad as The Last Time that I had Kidney Stones back in 2014. Still though. After about 6 AM, I felt it dissolve in My Bladder. We tried calling a Nephrologist later that Day and went round and round trying to get an Appointment. They said The Next Day and then, cancelled saying We should go to The ER. At The Height of a Nasty Flu Season, Heck No! 

Plus, It really would not classify as an “Emergency” because It had already passed and We wanted to know If There was Damage to The Kidneys.

We were able to get an Appointment but, I had to get My Blood Drawn for The Second Time This Year. Went to one Lab and They could not get My Vein, and The Next Morning (Thursday), We went to One of The Main Labs and They got it right away. I have Very Stubborn Veins, They are like Rubber, as My Mom says where They should be like a Wet Macaroni Noodle. That Monday, I got a Scan on My Side to see if There was Any Damage or Anything in There. So, Now come The Results, which is Difficult to Explain due to the Medical Side of It. So, My Blood Test came back saying that There was a lot of Calcium in My Blood. My Kidneys themselves are Fine, No Damage. My Urine Test saying that There was Calcium in there and It had been in little Calcium Crystals in There. When I think of this, I think of those old Milk Commercials saying (in a Narration Voice) “Milk has Calcium and Calcium builds Strong Bones!” It was enough to convince that Yes, Milk plus Calcium equals Strong Bones. The Thing though is, which I can confirm now, like it or not, Having PTLS makes it difficult to absorb The Calcium to make The Strong Bones. You See, Normally The Calcium goes into The Body, to The Blood, to The Bones, to Make Them STRONG! Then, with Me and PTLS, It does not do that for Some Reason that I am struggling to figure out as well as My Mom is. It seems as though, I am getting Calcium, but It is not going to The Right Place, It is basically, going to The Body, To The Blood and circling. The Only Way out, I would imagine is Either through Your Poop or Through The Kidneys to The Urine. Now, will that cause Problems with My Kidneys? God I hope not. But, My Kidneys would probably have to be Checked very couple years, or Maybe just make it part of The Yearly Physical. It is Frustrating to Me, because I wish I knew what is going on and What will go on in The Future. Being an Adult of The PTLS Community, meaning that Everyone sees What I am doing to see What will be of Their Child, I mean don’t get me wrong, It is The Highest Honor that I can have in My Life and I would never give it up in Any Way. But, There is also that little side of me that would like for Someone to tell Me what I have ahead of Me, then I can Chain it down to The Rest of The PTLS Community that is following me. In Turn, We can all Learn as we go, as a Chain of a PTLS Family. Sometimes, though like it or not, I have to be The One to Learn Things about How PTLS Effects Me so that I can Chain them and “Pass The Information On!”. Now, Will I be Okay? Absolutely! I Guess it is One of Those Perks of The Job. A Curve Ball, A Learning Curve. Those Darn Curves get me every time! What will I do about it? I don’t know. My Mom and I trying ways to Reroute The Calcium to My Bones, to Make them strong, instead of going The Other Way. We have tried Vitamin C Supplements to see if that might work, but That is in Testing Stages at The Moment. So, We are working on It. In Terms of Feeling Better, I am feeling better with Less than Occasional “Flank” Pain every once and while but, We Humans pass Kidney Stones (Small Ones!) Every Day and You usually barely notice. But, It is The Bigger Ones that You do notice. All in all, That is The Best that I could do to Explain Everything, I hope it does Teach You Something because It is certainly Teaching Me something!

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Your Body does Weird Things, Learn about It!

The Christianville Spirit: PTLS on The Red Carpet Rerun

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Keeps Learning with Hope and Resilience 

March (Marzo) 14th, 2018-TCS # 586

Welcome Back, My Readers! I hope that You had an Excellent PTLS Awareness Day! PTLS Members and Friends, I want to Thank You very Much for Doing All that You did to Help Spread Awareness of Potocki-Lupski Syndrome. It touches My Heart so Much! You Guys wore Green, Literally All Over The World; A lot of You helped Raise Money for PTLS as well as The PTLS Foundation; PTLS Member, Stacey did a Bake Sale that She did Brilliantly; Several People had Birthday Fundraisers on Facebook including My Grandma Honey and Most Notably, Family Friend, Scott Lerew (Thanks a Bunch, Uncle Scott!); and, Of Course, PTLS Family Members, Friends, PTLS Relations, Teachers, and so on, gathered for Pictures of Themselves with PTLS Green and Facebook was a Sea of Green! It was Amazing, Folks! It is all Thanks to You My PTLS Family Members and Friends. Oddly, Thanks to The Very First Person who had PTLS (Wherever They are) because Potocki-Lupski Syndrome (Duplication 17p11.2) would not be here, If It weren’t for That Person. So, on to This Week’s Newsletter

So, I am sure that You saw that I mentioned about My Kidney Episode and PTLS, Well, I am close to Confirming It but, I am a bit Busy This Week because My PTLS “Brother”, Tyler is in Town as well as The Fact that It is a bit Hard to explain about it, which I need Time to explain it. So, I will do that Next Week. However though, I am not going to Leave You, High and Dry. So, I am going to Rerun a Newsletter that Explains How We got The Idea of The PTLS Green Shirts. FYI, My Favorite PTLS Green Shirt is The Hunter Green with The PTLS Key in Front, It is Very Simple! Anyway, Keep Spreading The Green for The Rest of March (Marzo) and The Rest of The Year!

This Newsletter was written on March (Marzo) 18th of 2015 (Refer to Newsletter 442)

So, My Readers, I have something really Exciting to Tell You about! You See, as I have mentioned before, It is PTLS Awareness Month and The Motto for it is “Be Seen, Wear Green” or “Be Seen, Wear Green for The Happy PTLS Gene”. So, This is The Background before I get to The Exciting Story and I promise you, it is worth reading this part before The Exciting Story. Anyway, Last Month, My Mom was trying to come up with Ideas about PTLS Awareness Month and How to Celebrate It. Well, My Mom thought that it would be a Good Idea to make shirts for Our “Be Seen, Wear Green” PTLS Awareness Campaign. So, PTLS Family Member, Natalie Hinkin asked My Mom, “Do We have any Shirts in Green?” My Mom said, “No, but that is a Good Idea”. Sure, enough Natalie created a Campaign on a site called Booster.com and started selling Shirts with The PTLS Key on It (Because that is the Logo of PTLS) for 2 weeks. We sold over 100 Shirts in 24 Hours (Not Kidding You!) and, 500 Shirts in Two Weeks. Well, on PTLS Awareness Day, PTLS Members all over The World posted Pictures of Themselves, Family Members, Friends, Teachers, The List goes on! Of them in Their Green PTLS “Key” Shirts. That Campaign is still going on, It is at booster.com/beseenweargreen3 (Editors Note: This Campaign Site is Closed), Check it Out, Buy a Shirt, and Help Us Raise Awareness about Potocki-Lupski Syndrome. For Those that have already bought shirts and supported us, I Thank You from The Bottom of My Heart! It is amazes me that So Many People are wearing Green for The PTLS Gene! Remember though, that it is not just March to celebrate PTLS, You can celebrate All Year as Well! So, Let’s Hear about that Exciting Story! I am sure you are Thinking, Get on with It! Okay, Okay, Fine. So, Yesterday, was Saint Patrick’s Day and My Mom and I decided to go out to Dinner with a Friend of Hers. We figured that we would also show off Our Green PTLS “Key” Shirts as well. Well, it just so happened that There was a Hollywood Premiere of The Movie, Home across The Street. Well, The People at Good Morning America did a Contest in which a Non-Profit could Win the Premiere in Their City and Money for Their Non-Profit. Well, a Non-Profit in Plano won and The Premiere was held here. So, My Mom and I figured that we would check it out on our way to Dinner, since Our Dinner-mate was in Traffic anyway. Well, My Mom being The Awesome Mom that She is, figured, “Hey! This is Good Opportunity to Pitch PTLS!” We were wearing our Green anyway. So, We stood and watched for a while before we decided to get up close to the Red Carpet. There were Stars there that I have seen Many Times on TV or Heard about from Radio but, have never seen in person. Among Them, Tony Romo (He walked by and No Knew who he was), Jake Pavelka (From The Bachelor, Took me a second to figure out who He was), Kellie Rasberry (From Kidd Kraddick in The Morning on KISS-FM. Used to Listen to Them Every Morning on the Way to School. But, Didn’t realize who She was), J-Si (from a Show called Dish Nation on FOX, I don’t watch that show), Of Course, I can not forget to Mention the Biggest Stars of The Movie, Rihanna (The Singer) and Jim Parsons (Sheldon from “The Big Bang Theory”). You should have heard The Screaming Girls when Rihanna walked by! Anyway, in between when Rihanna passed by and Jim Parsons was on His Way, My Mom figured that She would teach J-Si and Kellie Rasberry about PTLS. After Jim Parsons walked by, We talked more closely with J-Si about PTLS, He was really Nice to Me. He shook my hand, saying, “What’s Your Name” I told My Name and My Mom continued with Talking about PTLS. After People settled down, My Mom was looking around at Everyone and seeing who She could talk to about Me when I noticed a Camera Guy walk past with The Microphone saying, “News Fix” which is a Local News Program that is different than the others. I said, “Mom, That Guy is from ‘News Fix!‘“ Mom is probably “What? What did He say?” I don’t speak as Clearly since after My Braces, A Story for Another Time! I said, “News Fix, like Channel 9!” I think if I would have said, That’s The Guy from Channel 9, She would have got it quicker. She did talk to that guy though and She gave him her Card with The PTLS Information on It. Okay, I am Sorry to say but, I have The Coolest Mom in The World, aside from My Uncle Craig, The Coolest Uncle in The World. He probably would have gotten us ON The Red Capet, Uncle Craig is THAT Kind of Guy. Ohh, The Smith Family, I tell ya! Anyway, as We were leaving heading to Dinner (We stayed a bit too long!) My Mom told me “I was a Media Hog” in a clean way. So, To say that We had an Awesome Saint Patrick’s Day would be an Understatement. All in all, Our “Be Seen, Wear Green” Campaign is going strong and I Thank You All for That! Oh, and Happy early Birthday, Mom!

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Keep on Supporting Our PTLS Green!

The Christianville Spirit: The Best Of PTLS Awareness Day

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Keeps Learning with Hope and Resilence

March (Marzo) 7th, 2018-TCS # 585

Happy Potocki Lupski Syndrome Awareness Month, My Readers! Actually, Tomorrow is Potocki-Lupski Syndrome Awareness Day. Wow! That is a Mouthful! So, First Things, First. Where was I Last Week? Well, I had another Kidney Stone Episode again! The Last Time, I had it was back in 2014, but This Time was less painful than The Last One I had. I basically felt it moving at 3 in The Morning and then, It stopped and in came The Pain, This Time It came in The Middle of The Night, so I was up all night Last Tuesday with that. After about 6 AM, I felt it dissolve in My Bladder. I got a Scan on My Side the other day so, We should find out soon how it turns out. I am Finding out another Element of PTLS but, I need to confirm it before I can Talk to You about it. So, In Light of That, Let’s Talk about PTLS Awareness Month! So, To be Clear, PTLS Awareness Day is March (Marzo) 8th and PTLS Awareness Month is The Entire Month of March (Marzo) so You can “Be Seen and Wear Green” at Anytime of The Month. So, At The Realization that I repeat The Story of How PTLS was Named (In My View). I have decided to give you a “Best of” Newsletter. A Newsletter with References to The Original Story of The Naming of PTLS Awareness Day/Month as well as a Rerun of What I feel is The Best Newsletter that I have written on or near PTLS Awareness Day. So, This is The List of What I am calling, My “Christian’s Best Of PTLS Day Newsletters”

Unseen Newsletter about PTLS (2015)

The History of PTLS Awareness Day (2014)

My Love For PTLS (2013)

So, Now that We have that. This Next Section is a Perfect Explanation of How I feel that PTLS Awareness Day is like.

So, This Newsletter is going to first sound Not PTLS Related but, Believe Me, It is! So, It is A Little Known Tradition in Most Countries, on Their Main National Holiday like Fourth of July (Independence Day) in The United States; Canada Day in Canada; Constitution Day in Norway; or Australia Day in Australia, They have What is called a “Citizenship Ceremony” where People become New Citizens of a Country. Well, I would like to think that PTLS Day is sort of The Same Thing. Now, Yes, PTLS Day is a Celebration of People of PTLS and Their Families, but, What about New PTLS Family Members that have been Recently admitted to What I call “The PTLS Union of Families”? I would imagine it would be like a Train passing by with a Bunch of People (To You, at least for the moment; Strangers) that have Children, Young Adults, or Adults in General that look like You or Your Child and One Person grabs you and says “Welcome to The PTLS Family! Let’s Get You Admitted and Soak You In The Family!” Some Newly Admitted Family Members are Ready for It! Just rip that Bandaid off and Jump In! Others though, They are pulled on The Train and They are Lost, Panicked, and Just not Sure (Which is Understandable!). Well, I feel like PTLS Day is a Day where We stop at a Station (or at least Should), Start Admitting New Members, and Welcoming Them with Open Arms and Take them along in Their Own Pace. Some like a Slow Pace of Learning Everything about PTLS and Some hop on and say “Give Me All You Got!”. Of Course, that is Explaining The Average PTLS Family Members. The Rest, They like to just Get all The Information and Hop off The Train and Go on Their Marry Way. Although, They are Part of The PTLS Family and They are Welcome on The Train at Any Time. Anyway, Whether You are New or Just Need a Re-Fresher, or Just need Hope for a Moment,   

 I am going to Rerun one of My Gold Newsletters of The Most Common Questions or Concerns about PTLS. (This is  The Best PTLS Day Newsletter) So, Take These Questions and Answers in Whatever Pace You like. You can read the Whole Newsletter Now or Read some of It now and Some later. I do have to Edit it a little bit because This Newsletter was originally written in May of 2015 (Refer to Newsletter 450). Enjoy and Happy PTLS Day!

So, as The Late Joan Rivers would say, “Let’s Talk” and This is a “Let’s Talk” Newsletter indeed. (Joan Rivers passed away in May of 2015 and I figured that I would honor her) As My Veterans know, I often cover the Same Thing about PTLS In Introduction but, As I say, There are always New PTLS Family Members that are “Admitted into The Union” per se. But, I am sure that There are Those who have been reading a while, or Started Reading, and are Curious about PTLS. You See, When A New PTLS Member is Admitted into The PTLS Family, To be fair, They are a Bit Scared when They come in and See what PTLS has to offer. They worry about Many Simple Things that Most People would not; PTLS is Unique! Haven’t You Heard? (breaking out in Song) Da, Da, Da Bird, Bird, Bird, Bird Is The Word! Just Kidding about The Bird, It is Family Guy Reference. Aaaannnnnyway, So I, The Caring Guy that I am, is going to try and Help both New Members and Refresh for The Standing PTLS Members. So, I’m going to take this in sort of a Political Candidate/Interview kind of Way. So, Here We Go.

First Off, I would to like Welcome You to The PTLS Family! My Name is Christian Smith-Centeno (also known as “Christian Centeno”) I am currently 30 Years Old and I have PTLS. I usually say that statement Very Proudly. Even though I edit it to My Age, Every Year, I still say it Proudly. I have had PTLS my Whole Life, Diagnosed at 3 Years Old. I was 4th In The World and 1st in The United States and through the week long research study (done Way Back then) but, that is just a Title! So, now that We have done the Introduction, Time to go for The Deep Stuff! By The Way, New Members, Please Take Your Time reading this, You don’t have to Digest It at all at Once! 

So, With New Members, They have Different Priorities when It comes to The First Question, We’ll call it, The Leap of Faith. Here We Go! 

Are You Okay?/Is My Child Going to be Okay?/ Are You at Least “Close to Typical”?: To Answer That Question. Yes, I am Okay. I am a Happy Person and Most PTLSers are Generally Happy. In Fact, They say that PTLSers have “The Happy Gene”. Second Question, This and VERY Important! Yes, Your Child Will Be Okay (Capitalized for Emphasis). Am I at least “Close to Typical”? As Good as I can be. Sometimes, It is not Easy to “Try to be Typical” because I don’t want to stand out TOO Much! I see Myself as “Unique”, In Other Words, I am Me, Simply Put.

What on Earth is PTLS?!

PTLS is shorthand of “Potocki-Lupski Syndrome”. Potocki-Lupski Syndrome is named after Two Doctors in Houston named Doctor Potocki and Doctor Lupski. and While we are at it, PTLS is NOT a Disease (It is a Disorder), It just happens. It is also worth Mentioning that Potocki-Lupski Syndrome has Autism-like Behaviors.

Oh My Lord, What do I do about Potty Training?! 

Okay, now This is My Bias Story, So it may or may not work for You. One Day, It was Raining and My Mom had a Frustrating Moment and Told Me that “The Baby down the Street needed My Diapers and I could not go in My Pants” Long Story, Short. I looked at Her like She had Two Heads and I eventually went to The Bathroom, by My Self. Needless to Say, Us PTLSers are Very Stubborn! 

Important Stuff

The Stuff I feel that You should know about us. That I consider to be Important. We are Detail Oriented (All about The Details!), Routine Oriented (as in Getting Up at Same Time and Going to Bed at The Same Time, Predictability in Life helps us focus!), We do get Overwhelmed with Too Much Noise or Activity. In Other Words, VERY Sensitive Hearing when We are Young, It does go down as We get Older. We are a bit OCD and Obsessive about Things. and, Most Importantly, We are Rule Followers, If You tell us a Rule that We will Follow It and Expect Others to Follow It. We (or at least, Myself) have an Issue with Gooey Textures or Things that Look like that. 

Eating

 That They will do at Their Own Time. I personally Ate nothing but Macaroni and Cheese, Yogurt, Apple Sauce, and Pasta most of My Childhood. PTLSers these Days, Love Fruit and Veggies. More so Fruit. So, The Next Part gets a bit split in The PTLS Family with Different View Points.

Walking and Talking (Plain and Simple) 

Usually, Anywhere around 3 Years Old, They start Walking (some earlier) and, around 4 to 5 Years Old is when PTLSers start trying to Talk (Some Earlier, Some Later, and Some Non-Verbal). It should have a Disclaimer here that, PTLSers have a range, so Those Stats are a Give or Take. But, One Thing that I want you to Know in This Segment is that PTLSers are Smarter than You realize. They soak in Everything and In Turn, They end up Mimicking What They are around. 

Schooling. Oh The Complication:

So, This is My View, so Do with It What You Will. Throughout School, My Mom made sure that I had a Good Mix of Special Ed and Regular Classrooms. The Special Ed was more for The Subjects that I needed extra help in, like Math, Writing (With an Aide), English (With An Aide), and finally Reading. Now I should mention that We are Very Literal. So, Spacial Learning is The Best Way to Go. Now, I did Regular Classrooms like Geography (With An Aide), Environmental Science (With An Aide), Aqua Science, and Art (Both Regular and Sculpture Art, without an Aide). I Will mention that Back in High School, I did a little “Job Crew” Class and I got to do something, I referred to as “Parking Lot Duty”. My Job was to Check the Big Staff Parking Lot (about 100 or so Cars) and Make Sure that Everyone was parked in the right place. I had to write The License Plate Number if They weren’t. I had 100% Compliance that Year. 

College

 So This One is a bit hard for Me. I really don’t like People who are Not Understanding asking Me if I go to College. Disclaimer Here, Your Child CAN go to College if They are Ready or Want to. Me, Personally, I did not go to College because My Math and Writing Levels were not at College Level. However, In A Way, I attempted a College Class. See, I tried to take one Online. I took a “Globalization Class” because after all, I am interested in how Geography, History, and Politics all mix together. As Crazy as it sounds, I used to think that History was boring, It had Nothing to do with Geography. Boy, Was I wrong! But, Anyway, in Said Class, I had Read from a Text Book (on The Computer), Checked out Websites They told me to Check Out, Watch The Video Lecture, and then A Knowledge Check Test. I tried One Week of It and It was a Bit Overwhelming in learning about Things that I probably should not. I did passed Two Knowledge Checks without Reading the Whole Chapter It told me to read. 

Dating. Oh Boy!

 Okay, Those of You who are wondering if I have Ever Dated, The Answer is Yes. I have had Two Girlfriends and I have been to a Homecoming Dance. By The Way, Homecoming in Texas is The Autumn Equivalent to Prom. Now, as For Future Dating, I plan on Finding The Woman of My Dreams, Bridgett (I am believing that is Her Name) and Dating Her, and Eventually, Marrying Her. 

Do I Plan on Getting Married?! 

Now, This is Not a Common Question of New PTLS Members, but I know it is One of Those Curious Questions that People are a bit afraid to ask. The Answer to This Question is Yes. Well, I think I pretty much answered that one at The End of The Last Question I answered, funny how that happens. Now, Although I do plan on Getting Married, I pray that it goes off really well. The Thought of It, I have to say, makes me Anxious. As For The Other Stuff, I do plan on that too and I hope that My Texture Issues will not flip on me. And, Final Question

 The Future

 Hard to Answer but, I know I plan on Getting Married, I plan on a Job that has Structure and Predictability in a Field that I Love, and Probably Most of All, I plan on Traveling The World to see It’s Great Beauty. All in all, With all The Questions I answered, I want you to know Most Importantly that with All The Craziness of Figuring Out PTLS along “The PTLS Highway” (Refer to “PTLS Highway” Newsletter), I Want You to know that Your Child WILL be Okay!

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. The Spirit that Brings Awareness? That is The Christianville Spirit.

(Credit to Friend, Sherry Seibold)