The Christianville Spirit: Review of PTLS Questions (PTLS FAQ)-A Christianville Classic

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Keeps Learning with Hope and Resilience

October 4th, 2018-TCS # 609

Happy October, My Readers! Yes, Some People just love October. It means Autumn, Pumpkins, Pumpkin-spice Lattes, and Of Course, Halloween. Me? I only like it because It is My Brother’s Birth-Month and for Fall Foliage but, Halloween is Not My Favorite Holiday. Yes, At This Time, You can actually enjoy Pumpkin Spice anything now and No One will judge you! So, Onto This Week’s Newsletter. Yes, I do realize that I am writing this Newsletter a Day late but, due to Technical Issues at Our House that We had to tend to. I could not write it yesterday. So, PTLS Family Members, Lord knows, I Love Them! Even if a few drive me a little crazy, I Love Them anyway because I consider them, My Family. However, It seems like Everyday, that We get New PTLS Family Members, in other words, Those who have been Recently Diagnosed and Therefore, I find that Quite Often, I repeat Myself about Something I have told Another PTLS Member whether I have known them a Short Time or They are Veterans and I have known them a Long Time. I realize though, that like My Mom says in her Job Description as a Mom, “It’s in The Book of Moms”. Repeating the Same Story that I have told over and over is Part of Being The Self-Appointed Ambassador of PTLS that is Honestly, a Very Honourable Position for Me. But, then I came to Realize that A Newsletter that I did The Best I have done explaining PTLS in a Simple Format and Answering The Most Common Questions about PTLS, is not on My Christianville Classics List! I know, Shocker, right?! So, This Week I am going to do that. As a Reminder, You can always Check The Christianville Classics List for Some of My Best Newsletters. Also, While I am at it. Anytime, You can send me Newsletter Suggestions on Topics on PTLS and Otherwise, that You, My Reader, would like to read about.  So, Without Further a Due, This is The Christianville Classic Newsletter, Review of PTLS Questions (PTLS FAQ).

This Newsletter was written Originally on May 13th of 2015

But, I am running The Version that I wrote on March (Marzo) 8th of 2017 (Refer to Newsletter 536). Because I feel This Version is is Outlined Better

Happy Potocki-Lupski Syndrome Awareness Day, My Readers! Also, known as PTLS Day for Short. Happy PTLS Day! I can now say that It has been 10 Years since The Naming of Potocki-Lupski Syndrome Officially! I am “Officially” Very Proud of My Special Needs having been Named for 10 Years! 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. 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. (Editors Note 2018) 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 31 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. Give Us Opportunity and We will Meet Those Expectations

The Christianville Spirit: A Family Letter-A Christianville Classic

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Keeps Learning with Hope and Resilience

September 26th, 2018-TCS # 608

So, Happy Fall Everyone! Some People like to call it “Fall” and in Old English, They call it “Autumn.” I like both, The Name Autumn sounds more appealing this year. So, Happy Fall and Autumn! So, onto This Week’s Newsletter! So, I came to a Realization this Week. So, My Mom posted on Facebook the other day, Thanking The People involved with having us Speak in Sweden two times. You See, as of This Week, It has been Two Years since The First Time that We went to speak in Sweden. But, One Comment really made me think. It was from a PTLS Family Member that I know very well and She said that When Her Child was Diagnosed, The First Thing She did was find My Newsletter and that is how She got to know, not only me but, More Importantly, Potocki-Lupski Syndrome (PTLS). I thought to Myself, not that I know what it is like to be a New PTLS Family Member, but What is The First Thing that They want to know? About PTLS, Right?! Well, Yes and No. They want to know about PTLS but, Most Importantly, They want to know if Their Child is going to Okay or not. In Most Medical Situations, from Syndromes to Illnesses and Ailments, They want to know “How Bad is It?” PTLS is NOT Bad for the Record, nor is it as Bad as You think it is. I looked over at My Christianville Classics List (By The Way, New Family or Not, You can always check that List) and I was Shocked to find out that A Newsletter that I had written explaining Who I was and What PTLS was was Not a Classic! So, with that Said, I am going to make it one. 

So, Without further a due This is Christianville Classic, “A Family Letter”. This Newsletter was a Part of My “Letters to Loved Ones” Series. 

This Newsletter was written on September 25th of 2013 (Refer to Newsletter 369)

So, Let’s Start This Week’s Continuation of My Series, with yet another question. When was the Last Time that You wrote a Letter to a Family Member? By That, I mean, A Family Member can be Your Uncle, Your Cousin, Your Grandma, or even Your Aunt. It can be someone in your Immediate Family, or someone in your Extended Family. It is, believe it or not, Rare to write a letter to a Family Member unless They are Serving Overseas. Thank You for Your Service, By The Way! The Most Common Written Letter is a “Love Letter” but, a Family Letter? Well, Most People will tell you while leaning back, “Ehh, We have Email for That!” True. But, Again it is Rare and Getting Rarer. So, In My Case, Because I have 3 Families (Immediate, Smith, and PTLS Family, respectively) I’m going to write to My PTLS Family. So, without further a due, This is The Christianville Spirit Series, “Letters to Loved Ones!”. For the 2nd Installment of the “Letters to Loved Ones” Series, I’m going to write one to My dearest PTLS Family.

“Dear PTLS Family Members,

Hi! For Those who don’t know me, My Name is Christian Centeno, I am the son of My Mom, Julie Smith-Centeno. although I liked to be referred to as “Christian Smith-Centeno” but, I answer to both. I am now 26 Years Old (I am now 31 Years Old) and Yes, I have PTLS. I am actually proud to say that I have PTLS (or Potocki-Lupski Syndrome). Also, known as Duplication 17p11.2 and Yes, all that Medical Lingo Matters! I have had PTLS My Whole Life, although I didn’t really know until I was about 9 Years Old but, it didn’t really matter much to Me. It doesn’t matter to Me now. For Those that are wondering, “Why am so I Proud to have PTLS?” Because it makes me Unique. Not in a “I’m-Better-than-You” kind of Way but, in a more “I’m One of God’s Many Unique Creatures in This World.” So, People will always ask me, “How do You handle having this ‘disease’?” First of all, It is NOT a “Disease”! It is a Unique Chromosome Disorder, and, How do I deal with it? I have lived with PTLS, My Whole Life so, It became part of My Life. Anyway, The One Thing I wanted to tell you, besides Giving You an Education about It, is that Everything is Going to be Okay! Life through My Eyes, it is pretty Awesome! Excuse Me if I sound like My Mother for a minute, but Your Child is going to Talk either words or through their eyes; Your Child hears and understands Everything and I mean, Everything, Believe Me, I drive My Mom crazy when I hear her talking on the other side of The House and I have always understood what was being told to me; Your Child might want to have a Girlfriend (like I did) or Boyfriend; Depending on the Child’s choice, They could go to Homecoming or Prom (I went to Homecoming, but I didn’t go to Prom); and, Finally, as scary as it sounds, Will find someone and Will get Married (As I plan on doing). A little note about PTLSers having Children, There is a 50/50 Chance of their child having PTLS. As for Me, I don’t plan on having Children for that Reason, Crying or Children/Animals in Distress really bothers me, as well it would be Hard for me to take care of. So, Will they get to Go to College, Get a Job or Drive? Well, College will be up to the Child’s Discretion and Abilities. As for Me, maybe I’ll take a few Continuing Education Classes but, College isn’t high on My List. A Job is a Definite Yes! I have, had one before and I was really good at it. and, Driving...Well, I’ll put it this way, If we lived in a Small Town where Everyone knew who I was, then maybe I would Drive but, considering I live in a Big City, it might be Hard. Of Course, That is not to say that I never Drove before. Because My Brother had me drive around the Neighborhood and When I was younger, We had a Go Cart and I drove that a lot around the yard. So, Your Child will get there eventually, it just takes a lot of patience. So, If you are reading this and you have been here a while, You pretty much know all this. For Those that are New, Welcome to The Family! Remember though, that No Family is Perfect and Remember too, that Family should always come First! I believe that we are literally, a Family, we may not be Blood, but We Are Family!

I Love You All, PTLS Family!

Your PTLSer, 

Christian Smith-Centeno”

So, as You can see, whether You are New or a Veteran, We welcome you with Open Arms, a Hug, and Lots of Encouragement. All in All, Family may be what you make of it but, Family is Important!

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Remember the Importance of Family!

The Christianville Spirit: Born This Way Wedding

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Keeps Learning with Hope and Resilience

September 19th, 2018-TCS # 607

Howdy Y’all, My Readers! That is how We say hello in Texas! Happy Birthday and Shout Out to My Lil’ PTLS Sis’, McKenna! She is 16 Years Old Today! Happy Birthday McKenna! Now, On to This Week’s Newsletter. You Know, There are Sometimes when You watch a TV Show and You think, “Yeah Right, How does XYZ Show relate to Me? Does it Teach? Does it make You Feel?”. Most of The Time, TV Shows don’t relate to You. More Often, You relate to Them. But, What about a Show that does both? It relates to You and You relate to It. Well, There are a Few Shows that I have related to, like The Good Doctor. By The Way, The Good Doctor will be on This Monday here in The United States for a Second Season. A bit of Advice, Watch the Whole First Season first before going into The Second. I Digress. Anyway, There is Another Show that I have been watching called Born This Way, It basically shows The Lives of Several Young Adults with Down Syndrome living their Lives and Going to a Special Needs Community Center to meet and Hang out in Los Angeles. Anyway, Born This Way is a Series on A&E that explains What it is like to Live with Down Syndrome, from The Point of View of The Person themselves as well as Their Parents. Topics in The Show cover Their View on Many Things including Life, Jobs, Independence, Love, The Want of Children, Marriage, and Of Course, Sex. Sometimes, The Down Syndrome-ers have trouble talking about Sex, so They refer to it as “The S-Word”. Now, It is Previous Episode of This Show that really touched me and Made me Think about My Life. It seems like Every Time that My Mom and I watch that show, It always prompts up Discussions about My own Point of View. In This Case, It was Deep. You See, One of The “Down Syndrome-ers” named Christina was like a Typical Special Needs Woman who wants Love, Marriage, and Children. And, She eventually went on a Date with Someone who had a Different Special Needs named Angel. Christina and Angel’s Relationship developed over The Course of The Show. They went on a Date; They became Boyfriend and Girlfriend; eventually Angel proposed, Leading us to The Previous Episode, The Wedding! Yes, Christina and Angel got Married! Now, I personally thought that It would be a Special Needsy kind of Wedding, Everything Adapted. Nope! It was Far from It! It was a Huge Wedding! It looked to be Expensive and It was! They had Beautiful Vows, They personalized them, and Of Course, They had their First Dance to a Very Romantic Country Song. I actually remember it, It was “I Cross My Heart” by George Strait. I am poking at Myself a little and My Friend, Deb will know Why! Anyway, It really made me think about My Future Wedding, now that I have what it is like for Two People with Special Needs getting Married. 

With My Anxiety and Being Overwhelmed easily, How would I handle My Own Wedding. It is different when It is  Someone Else’s Wedding where if The Music is too Loud or It is too Overwhelming, You can go somewhere, Where it is Quieter. Just a Fair Warning; Being Real with You here, At The Time of Writing This, My Thoughts were Very Scattered because This is a Very Difficult Topic for Me to write about. Trying to combine My Future Dreams and Reality!

Now, I have been to My Share of Weddings, Good Friends, Family Friends, and Yes, I was part of The Wedding Team in My Uncle’s Wedding. So, I know what it is like. The Largest Wedding I remember was both My Uncle’s Wedding and My Cousin Charlotte’s Wedding. They were Big Weddings with at least 50 to 70 People or Higher. Of Course, The Opposite, A Smaller Wedding was My Former Neighbour’s, Rob and Caree’s Wedding where The Ceremony was at a Church and The Reception was at Their Parent’s House. After Experiencing Big and Small Weddings, I think I would prefer a Smaller Wedding.

Just Thinking about All The Traditions and Rituals of a Wedding Ceremony, The Reception, and Even Pre-Wedding Events makes me Anxious just thinking about.

I have done a lot of Thinking and Preparation about This. I even came up with a YouTube Playlist of Songs to Play at My Wedding. 

I am not sure how The Wedding Ring would feel on My Finger and Whether I would like it or not.

I am not sure how How Anxiety I will be. Either Calm and Natural or So Nervous and Sick to My Stomach. 

Don’t Worry for Those Attend because The Music will not be too Loud, It will be Easy to dance to. 

I figured that if Two Special Need People can have a Pretty-Close-to Typical Wedding, than Maybe I can. Mine will be a little Easier. 

As Seen on The Show, Christina had a few times when She panicked and She was not sure if She wanted to get Married. That is My Worry as well, where I have an Anxiety Attack not being sure about What I am doing. Because of The Money spend, People coming, and My Future Wife waiting for Me. 

All in all, as Long as I am Calm and Natural because I am Marrying The Woman of My Dreams. Because I am told that It will feel Right when I marry Her. My Mom on the other hand, will be Crying her Eyes out!

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Love should be given to those who are Typical and Those with Special Needs!

The Christianville Spirit: ANTs in My Head Rerun

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Keeps Learning with Hope and Resilience

September 12th, 2018-TCS # 606

Be Careful Out There, My Readers! Okay, This is a More Serious Greeting! As I am writing this, A Big Hurricane is on It’s Way to The US State of North Carolina and South Carolina. I live in Plano, Texas (North of Dallas), so We are Fine. But, I have Family Friends and PTLS Family Members, “The Famous Deb” included, that are in The Way of This Hurricane. If You are Reading This, Please be Careful and Get out of Harm’s Way! Anyway, onto This Week’s Newsletter. So, Recently I have had More Anxiety than I usually do. My Mom gave me some tips on How to help it, Some Exercises to do, and I got serious with My CBD Gummies. Anxiety is something that is common with Us PTLSers in Many Different Way including What I am going to talk about in a Newsletter that I going to rerun. Enjoy and I hope You learn something.

This Newsletter was written on September 28th of 2016 (Refer to Newsletter 513)

Happy Autumn, My Readers! Sorry Guys, I forgot to wish you a Happy Autumn last week. So, Happy Autumn anyway. I like that word, Autumn, it actually sounds better than Fall. Anyway, on to This Week’s Newsletter. So, when I scroll through My Facebook News Feed, Interesting Stories pop up (I call them “Push Backs” because I send them to Safari and I read them after I get done with Facebook) that I find to Read. Most are about Travel or Romance. But, This One got to Me. It was an Article from a Special Needs Advocate Blog called “The Mighty”. This Article was about What It is like with High-Functioning Anxiety. That basically means that I can do a lot by Myself but, We have Anxieties to go with it. I am thinking that Anxiety is a common trait of People with Special Needs and that includes PTLS. Don’t get me Wrong, I Love PTLS, I Love having PTLS, I would never trade it for The World. Do I wish that There were Certain Attachments (or Clauses) that I would edit or get rid of? Sure I would. The Biggest Attachment I would want to get rid of, is You guessed it, Anxiety. Anyway, This Blog post on “The Mighty” explained in My Head, Perfectly what it is like with Anxiety being a High-Functioning Person with Special Needs. It mentioned also to Blog about It to Help You, as well as Others Understand, and That is what I am doing. So, When I am Anxious, according to My Mom, You can usually tell. If I am Anxious about a Certain Event, I get different ranges of symptoms, like a little Gagging (when I was little or in extreme situations), Throwing Up (in real extreme situations), Sweating, or Digestive Issues. Usually, My Mom can tell I am Anxious because I have a “Look” on My Face that says it all. We call it the “Something is bothering me/Face of Fear/I’m going to be Sick” Face. But, What about Anxiety Stress, I believe that The Article was referring to? Well, when I am stressed I tend to act different than What I normally do. I am more Quiet when I am normally Talkative, I ask a lot of questions, I get Headaches more often, Most of This Stuff I have written about before, and then Something that I have never mentioned is Something I like to called “My Curiosity thoughts”. Basically, They are, as My Mom says, “Intrusive Thoughts” that Everyone has normally, that usually goes in and then Pass Through, like how new parents worry about dropping a baby while they are holding them. They know they will not do it, but the thought “Pops” in their head. But, For Me, It “Pops in” and then I obsess about it, and Then I have to let it Out somehow. It really bothers me when these Thoughts Pop in. I know they will not happen, but They sure are Bothersome. The Best Way I have found to let them out is either Blurting it Quickly, Say “Sorry Mom” (even though my mom did not even hear what I said), Hug, and Move on or I say it in a Joke form. Other Times, I would tell it to “Shut Up” and hope it goes away, and Get it to Pass Through. It can range anywhere from “Should I say or do this?”, and Not-So-Nice Words. Now, I would never actually do or say any of those things because I have No Mean Bone in My Body and I hate when They come in. It really Annoys Me when I have a “Curiosity Thought”! I have realized that When I am Anxious about Something that is going to happen that I am Not sure about, They start to show up more than I would like them to. I am wondering also if I am Imitating things that I see or hear about. Considering that I watch The News everyday to hear about What is going on in The World, which I use to Teach me things about How The World works, it is not good. I am struggling to even write this because It is hard to explain What is in My Head. My Mom looked it up one time about The Thoughts and Told me that It is common for those that have Autism to have those “Curiosity Thoughts”, but I read that Those with Autism tend to follow through with The Thoughts, where I would not. It makes me wonder though, It is a Little-Known but, Common Theory for those PTLS as well. The Article mentioned that You tend to have Self-Damning (If You will) Thoughts like Your not good enough, Your a Bad Friend, Your a Loser, Your Pathetic and It is basically Energy that needs to get out somehow. They say to Exercise, Walk, Run, or Just talk it out. But, Not to go all Psychology on You, but, Those Kinds of Thoughts are Common for Everyone. It is how “The Enemy” (as I explained in a Previous Newsletter) tries to Get you, to Upset You, and Pull You away from Your Destiny, that is his (It sounds better) job. I am thinking “It” should get a New Job. I often worry that I will have those Thoughts even in My Future, with My Future Wife around. I am sure that She will change that, at least I would think. I will always have some kind of Anxiety but, I would rather get rid of that one. All in all, I hope that You understand that It is Hard to get what is in My Head out for You can Understand.

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. We all have ANTs (Automatic Negative Thoughts) in Our Head, Get a Hug and Let them go.

The Christianville Spirit: The World of Music Rerun

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Keeps Learning with Hope and Resilience

September 5th, 2018-TCS # 605

Ahoj, My Readers! Yes, This Greeting sounds like a Pirate, that is actually how They say Hello in The Czech Republic as well as Slovakia. To be Fair, Slovak and Czech are Very Close Languages. For Two Separate but, Divorced Countries, not only does Czech Republic (Czechia) and Slovakia, formerly Czechoslovakia speak Languages that are close to one Another and They are still Very Good Friends. Anyway, Speaking of Languages and The World, I payed another visit to An Interest that I have not done in a While. Remember when I found that Site of Radio Stations around The World? If You don’t, I am going to Rerun The Newsletter that explains it. In Case, You are wondering It is called “Radio Garden”, This Time, using The Site I like to travel on The Internet. So, In My Cyber Radio Travels. I started here in Dallas, Hit Atlanta for a Quickie, and then, headed to Stockholm, Sweden and Iceland, to Hear a Radio Station that I heard on The Way with Josefine and Husband, Mattias to and from Sundsvall called RIX-FM. Apparently, It is a Radio Station that Works All Across Sweden. My Understanding is that it is equivalent to Sirius/XM Radio here in The United States. It showed up on The Listing, but It needed a Login. I did try another Swedish Station where I heard a “Sverige Taxi” Commercial. I will say, It was quite Whimsical for a Taxi Commercial! Then I wondered What do People in Iceland listen to. So, I went up to Iceland! There are a Surprising Amount of Songs that are in English, American or British. I did find One Station that played a Song in Icelandic. Perhaps, I was looking there at The Wrong Time because It was 3 AM, Iceland Time. After That, I headed to Houston and then, I was Done. Anyway, so The Newsletter that explains This Site will amaze you! I wrote This Newsletter Two Years ago. Enjoy and Happy Radioing!

This Newsletter was written on February 22nd of 2017 (Refer to Newsletter 534)

Bonjour, My Readers! That is One of My Favorite Greetings! In Case, You did not know, It is French for Hello. So, Boy, Do I have an Interesting Story for You! So, Imagine this with Me, Okay Folks? Imagine that You wanted to listen to The Radio but, in a more Expanded Way. You wanted to listen to More than just Radio in The United States. Until The Other Day, I had never done that before, listening to a Radio Station outside of The United States. So, Here is how it happened. I was reading My Facebook Feed over and over and, I saw a Link to an Article on a Site called “Geoawesomeness”. It is basically a Site of Maps and Charts, for those like me that are Very Geography/History/Politics-mixed together minded. So, After reading The First Article, I wanted to see more Articles with Maps and Charts explaining This or That. Then, I found one that Literally Blew My Mind! A Site called Radio Garden and It is in Google Earth format with Green Dots all Over The World. Well, Those “Green Dots” were Live Streams of Radio Stations literally All over The World! Now, The only time I used to do it, If I wanted to, was think of An Area, Find a Station there, and Listen, or Use Apple’s LONG list of what They call “World Music”. After all, It is said that Music connects us all, right? If There is a Language that Everyone speaks It is in Music. hmm, Sounds like That could be One of Popi’s (My Grandpa on My Mom’s Side) Pearls of Wisdom. “The World is connected with Music”, I am pretty sure that He would say that. He did have a Degree in Music after all. Anyway, so I tested this “Radio Garden” Site and Once it started working, I was off and running like a Dog with The Gate left open! So, I started out small, My Local Area of Dallas-Fort Worth, then Atlanta at The Peak of Rush Hour, Washington DC, New York, and Cities in between, then I was ready to Hear The Music of The World. Now, Let’s bear in Mind that When Listening to The Radio anywhere You are, The Word “Music” can mean anything. Now, I know that “Talk Radio” is not always Music, but in The Radio World, Anything does at This Point. So, I went to Many Places around The World, Listened to The Language of The Country, The Tone of Voice, What it might be that They were saying, and The Type of Music that was being played. I went as far as Thailand; to India; to The Middle East; All over Europe (London, Paris, Madrid, Prague, Stockholm, and Oslo; among Many Others); The Caribbean (Puerto Rico, The Dominican Republic, and Jamaica); I took a Short Visit to Costa Rica, and Yes, They even have A Radio Station in of All places; Nuuk, Greenland! It was Interesting to say the least! So, a Few Questions that I’m sure that You are Asking, Why would You do that? What did You find The Most Interesting? What was The Most Unique Experience? and, Finally, Any Favourite Radio Stations that You found? Okay, Here are Your Questions answered!

Why would You do that?: Because I was Curious and Wanted to know what Music around The World sounded like

What did You find The Most Interesting?: Actually, Lots of Things. I noticed that There is a Surprisingly Amount of “American Music” Stations, or at least Stations that played Songs that are Hits in The United States. I even found a Country Music Station in Stockholm, Sweden. Yes, Really. Country Music, like a American Country Music, in Sweden. Yes, I know The Swedes can rock to Country Music as Much as Americans can, I just found it Funny. Other Funny or Interesting Moments, were Thai Rap in Bangkok, Thailand; Trying out Indian Music in Mumbai, India; and, Listening to a Station in Puerto Rico talk about US President, Donald Trump in Spanish. It took the Words El Presidente  and Estados Unidos to Convince Me that They were talking about The President. They did get rather Passionate as The Talk rolled on. 

Most Unique Experience: It was Interesting to Listen to What People in India refer to as “Traditional Indian Music”. I will tell you though, It is rather catchy and You can dance to It if You want to, In fact They encourage it! And, Can’t forget when I went into The Middle East, There are Some Stations that have Arabic Music and Some that are in The Best and Most Respectful Way of Explaining It, It is like Islam’s Equivalent of Christian Talk Radio. 

Any Favorite Radio Stations that I found: Well, I found Two Stations that I liked. Now, One is a American/British Music Station, “Dubai 92” out of Dubai, United Arab Emirates and The Other is an American/British (International is what They called it) and Spanish Music Station, “Cadena 100” out of Madrid, Spain. I actually listened to a Good Spanish Song that I wish I had looked up The Title and Blondie played after that and That is when It got My Attention. Yes, Spanish PTLS Family Members, I did listen to a Spanish Song (Español Musica) and You would be Very Proud! 

Anyway, all in all, It really was a Round-The-World Experience to hear The Music (and, Talk) of Different Parts of The World. So, My Advice, Check out that Site and spin The Globe and Listen to The World.

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Open Your Mind to Different Types of Music.

The Christianville Spirit: No IQ to Judge Me

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Keeps Learning with Hope and Resilience

August 29th, 2018-TCS # 604

Hola, My Readers! I am happy to be on My Regular Newsletter Writing Schedule! I missed you guys! So, There is Something that came to My Attention This Past Week that Made Me feel “Special”, and Not the Good “Special”. You See, in Having Special Needs, which One would think is Easier than being Typical, don’t have to worry as much about Life’s Worries, It is an Easy Life! Or, so We think anyway. Okay, Given having Special Needs, gets you some Bypasses and Help as well but with it, comes those Times. This Story is one of those Times. You See, In order to have the Help You need as well as Trying to be as Independent as possible, You have to get Services to help you. Services can be given via The Government or The State in which You live in. In Texas, That means It is given via The State of Texas. Basically, It’s getting The State, Medicaid, and A Coordinator Company to all agree in Giving You Services. It is really complicated! Basically, I have a Case Manager that I see every month and They basically check in to How I am doing. The Extras like Supportive Employment, In-Home Services, and so on, You have to request. Anyway, so Along with The Coordinator Company checking in, The State checks in to see How you are doing in terms of Your IQ, to see See if You need The Services or not. This only happens once every few years, The Last Time being in 2013. Now, It was not The Test itself that bothered me, It was that I was not prepared for It. Now, Truth be told, An IQ Test is not something You need to be prepared for, unlike School Testing, The SAT, or ACT Tests. But, A Psych Person told us to come in, and We thought it was only to Update Yearly Paperwork but, It turned out to be that They were going to Test My IQ, I was Tired and still recovering from Going to Sweden. So, The Person told My Mom leave the room to do The Test. I tried My Best, even with My Perfectionist Ways. Now, They is No Wrong or Right Way to do The Test, Just give it Your Best Shot! But, The Thing is, The Way in which You are treated when comes to IQ Testing as well Other Ways of treating People with Special Needs, tends to swing towards, (In a Child-Like Voice) You be Careful Now because This Person is Speecial! In Other Words, Asking something like “Can You do This?!; Match Shapes?; Numbers? (Frontwards, Backwards, and in Order); 2 Plus 2; Geography Questions (Nailed It!); Science Questions; and, Sometimes, Psych Questions (Luckily not This Time). If It were You, It would make you feel Less Than. Thank God that They changed The Name in which They call Someone with a Low Score, (Pardon The Language here) Mentally Retarded. Today, They use The Term “Intellectually Disabled”. Ya Know, to My Mine, that Sounds like a Machine or a Robot that is messed up a little bit. Not quite that It is Useless but, Quite that It needs a little Tune Up. Computer Nerds, On It! Another Theory is an Office Printer that You need to go to The Printer itself to press “Print” instead of on The Computer. If You do try Pressing Print on The Computer, The Printer say “Intellectually Disabled”. Now, In My Mind, One could read that as a Joke like “A Priest and Rabbi walk into Bar..” and Truth be told, It could be a Joke. But, To Me, It is not. I have known that I have Special Needs and I embrace It! PTLS makes me who I am. But, My Readers, It is NOT Who I am or What I am, if that makes sense. If Someone introduced me as “Hey Guys, This Christian, He has Special Needs, He has PTLS” versus “This is Christian, a Great Friend of Mine”, It makes me feel better. I am proud of Have Special Needs, but to Reminded of It, Is basically Putting a Label on The Office Printer saying It does not work when, It just takes getting up to Clicking “Print” on The Machine and Surprise! It works just Fine! Now, I may not excel in Certain Areas like Math, unless It is showed in a Better Context. I may not be up to The Social Level of People that are My Age. But, I do excel in Other Things, like Geography, History, and Politics. Not to Mention; Road Signs, Human Emotion, and Intuitiveness, to name a Few. I don’t need an IQ Test to tell me about that, because I already know about that. Heck, A Couple Years Ago, I was able to Fix My Computer after It had a Virus. All in all, PTLS makes Me Special, but I like to say that It makes me Unique.

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Don’t Judge, Don’t Limit Us Incredible People!

The Christianville Spirit: My 31st Birthday in Sweden

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Keeps Learning with Hope and Resilience 

August 22nd, 2018-TCS # 603

Welcome Back, My Readers! Yes, My Readers, Welcome Back! Thank You for Staying with Me! So, Wow! It has been 3 Weeks since The Last Time I wrote to You. The First Week Reason was not so Fun but, The Other Two Weeks were Much More Fun! The First Week, I had to take off because The Air Conditioning in My House went out and We basically had to wait Several Days before It could be Fixed Completely. They pretty much had to Replace The Whole Unit. Such a First World Problem! But, Such a Necessary Thing Here in Texas with The Heat!

So, on to Much More Exciting Things! I went to Sweden again! Yes, I went to Sweden for The Second Time and This Time, was so Beyond Awesome! It was Another Part “PTLS Business Trip/Speaking Tour” and Part Fun Adventure. This Time was a Little Different as well because We took My Brother with Us. Now, This Trip did not start in The Way I Planned like a Lot of Things in My Life This Year, but I digress. It was a Hard Lesson in Terms of Choosing not only How to get there but, What Airline to Fly. We took IcelandAir. Now, Don’t get me Wrong, It was not a Terrible Experience. There was a Baby crying the Whole Way, Several Seats Back. Thank God for Headphones! But, The Thing is, I wanted to go to Iceland! even if I just landed there, Spent a Few Hours, and Flew on to Stockholm. I did not realize Two Things, One is that is VERY Expensive in Iceland and Two, Codeshare Agreements (or Airline Alliances) really matter. The Blue Lagoon, The Most Famous Place in Iceland is 6,000 Local Currency (Icelandic Kronour), that is 60 US Dollars for Basic Entry. The Codeshare Agreement thing, that basically means that If You have Miles or Loyalty toward American Airlines, Delta, or United Airlines, You can use them on Airlines within Their Codeshare. like with American, You get points on Iberia, British Airways, and Many Others; Delta with KLM, Air France, and Alitalia; and, United with Lufthansa. Now, IcelandAir is an Independent Airline (Non-Codeshared). Now, That is Fine, You do not always need Codeshares until You consider something like Frills. Codeshares, I feel, police The Frills where as Independents can do what They will with Frills or No Frills. In This Case, IcelandAir was a No Frills. Easy with No Frills going 3 Hours, but 8 Hours, Nope! Anyway, Moving On. So, The First Day, My Mom, Michael, and I were in Stockholm, We spent getting The Lay of The Land. We were staying closer to The City Center so that Michael could be within Close Distance of Places to See. He was Scheduled to hang out and See the Sites with 

a Friend of Ours. We took Michael to One of The Local Grocery Stores and afterwords, We could not get out because They had Security and You could not get out unless you had a Receipt. The Next Day, Thursday. It was rather Warm by Sweden Standards! It was 85 Degrees Warm. That is Fine, but Remember that Up North, It rarely gets that Hot and Therefore, Not needing Air Conditioning. I Mean, there were a Few Places like Our Hotels and Restaurants that had It. But, Regardless of The Heat, I wanted to Show My Brother, The Places that I have seen before and My Favourite Parts of Stockholm including Gamla Stan (The Old Town). Having PTLS causes us to have a Problem with Our Body Temperatures and I do not tolerate The Heat very well.

I will Tell You, We pretty much walked a Large Portion of Gamla Stan. We did not make it to The Changing of The Guard but, We did get to see Something Cooler, We got to see The Swedish Royal Band do a Parade through the Old Town. My Brother really enjoyed it there. After Walking around Gamla Stan, We stopped for Ice Cream. Funny Story, I was wearing a The Christianville Spirit Shirt, but The Owner of The Ice Cream Place read it as “Christian Spirit”. Her Arms went up in The Air saying “Hallelujah!” and was telling The Rest of The People working there that We were going to have “Praise Jesus” Time! So, Praise Jesus, We did, She put on Christian Music while We ate Our Ice Cream. After That, I wanted to Take Michael to The City Hall where We went Last Time (Refer to The First Stockholm Newsletter) But, It was Hot with No A/C so We decided not to. We did get to See The Courtyard and a Prettier Scene this time around because It was a Beautiful Day. The Next Day, Friday, Lovely PTLS Family Member, Josefine of Sweden was Nice Enough to drive us to and from Sundsvall, about 4 Hour North of Stockholm because that is Where We were having Our PTLS Mini-Conference. Now, What was Really Cool about this Drive was that We got to see a Whole lot more of Sweden outside of Stockholm. It was Seriously Stunning Nature and We have not even seen The Basics before that! Josefine showed us a Place where She likes to Stop for a Break between Stockholm and Sundsvall. Now, To Most People, They would not get This Excited about a Travel Center along The Road, but This One was Really Cool. It is called Rasta Tönnebro (I had to research The Name!). If You drive from Stockholm to Sundsvall or Vice Versa, I would recommend stopping here. I just call it a Travel Center with a Lake. Yes, Really a Lake. In The Summer, People actually stop there to go Swimming. Heck, In Sweden, If It is Fika Time, People literally stop on The Side of The Road to have Fika! Oh Swedish Life, I tell ya! While We were There, We sat on a Patio-Gazebo on The Lake and Overlooking it and We had Swedish Meatballs. This is as Swedish as It gets, I thought at The Time. Oh No, Christian and My Readers, It gets MORE Swedish later! After that, We continued on Our Way to Sundsvall. Once We arrived in Sundsvall, We got a Little Tour of The City while trying to Find Our Hotel. Little did I know that Our Hotel for The Weekend and My Birthday was on a Mountain! Yes, A Mountain overlooking The City of Sundsvall, Two Islands in The Distance, and Even The Baltic Sea in The Distance. In Sundsvall, I would think that You are either Team North City Mountain (N. Stad Berget) or South City Mountain (S. Stad Berget). The Mountain that We were on was South Stad Berget. Team South City Mountain all the way! Our Hotel on This Mountain was called Hotell Södra Berget. It is Ski Resort in The Winter and a Biking-down-The-Mountain Resort in The Summer. The Coolest Part and Most Addicting Part for Me at This Hotel was The View. I took Every Chance I could to sit facing toward The View. On Saturday, My Birthday (which in all Honesty did not feel like It was My Birthday, probably because of The Disbelief of Having My Birthday in Another Country) was The Day of Our PTLS Mini-Conference/Speaking Tour. It was The Business Side of This Trip. After That, The Swedish Speaker spoke, It was My Turn to Speak. Yes, I spoke at a PTLS Event for The 3rd Time so Far. I spoke Very Well. Funny Thing, I even spoke before My Mom did! Whereas I spoke after The First Fika (Yes, Remember that Swedes have Two Fikas a Day!) My Mom spoke after Lunch and The Second Fika. After The Mini-Conference was Over, Everyone sung Happy Birthday to Me and Josefine even got me a Shirt from Sundsvall! Sweet Josefine! That Evening, The Sun was still up, but It was Evening (For Reference, The Sun rose at 4:30 AM and Set at like 9:30 PM). After That, We got to The Hotel just in Time for The Sunset over The Mountains. What a Great Ending to My Birthday! On Sunday, We drove back to Stockholm, Got to See My Brother again, and Hang Out with Him and Our Friend who toured him around. The Next Day, Monday, We will call The Full Swedish Day! Josefine, Sweet Josefine drove us out to The Stockholm Archipelago and Showed us The Most Swedishly Nature Island called Ljusterö (pronounced Loose-TRah). Josefine’s Parents had us at Their House for a Home-Cooked Swedish Meal. It was Really Good! After that, We went out for Ice Cream, Josefine’s Parents were Such Amazing People! They got me a Shirt from Ljusterö for My Birthday! Then, It was Time to finish the Trip and Head back Home to Texas. All in all, It was Brilliant Trip, We learned about PTLS in Different Countries, Heard how They treat them, and My Mom had Great Meetings to help provide better understanding of PTLS All Week.

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Travel around The World to Embrace Differences!

The Christianville Spirit: My Friend, Jennifer-Samantha

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Keeps Learning with Hope and Resilience

July 25th, 2018-TCS # 602

Ahoj, My Readers! Although I may sound like a Pirate, that is actually how They say Hello in The Czech Republic. I have to say, before I start My Newsletter that The Czech Republic (Czechia, as it is now referred to in English) is Quite an Interesting Country and Language. Czech is most definitely not an Easy Language but, An Interesting One. I have been Very Fascinated lately with The Czech Republic as well as It’s Language. So Many “Funky” Letters in their Alphabet! The One that is The Most “Funky” and Unique Letter in The Czech Alphabet is The Letter R with a Mark over It. To Me, It looks like The Letter R with a Small V over it. Anyway, It looks like This (Ř) It is said that It is Impossible to Pronounce but, It is Pronounced “Aerch” and That is in The Single Form and The Ř is Pronounced Very Differently from The Single. Anyway, onto This Week’s Newsletter! So, I got to Hang Out with One of The People that is part of The Changes I mentioned last week, Jennifer-Samantha. So, I’m not sure if I explained the Back Story behind that Name. The First Time I wrote about Her, I said, She was the Vice President of The College that My Mom teaches at, but, I am not really sure what Her Job actually was, It was not the Vice President but, I guess We can call it an “Ambassador of The Work Place”, I think that fits her perfectly! Anyway, When I met her the First Time, I commented that although Her Name is Jennifer, If You saw Her, She looks like a Samantha. Sometimes, People with One Name look like Their Name is something else. After That, Came a Nickname of sorts to Name her both Jennifer and Samantha and morphed it into Jennifer-Samantha. As I wrote in a Newsletter that I am going to Rerun, She is Very Busy Woman but, Very Interesting Woman as well. She is One that in a Conversation, She will not only brag about You but, Also let you brag about Yourself in The Most Humble Way. Come On! You might be Extremely Humble but, It is Okay to Brag Every once and while. What I like about Her is that She will ask Questions to Learn about You and Show that She is Interested in Learning about Me. Honestly, That sounds a bit like a One-Sided Conversation but, at the Same Time, She feeds from That and Finds a Good Story that related to that. Those are The Kind of Conversations I like, Where The Person is Genuinely Interested in what You have to say, No Matter how Mundane it may be. Now, then again, That is a Good Way to Make Friends as well as Business Partners because You are Interested in That Person’s Point of View. Honestly, I have not seen her for a Couple Months so, It was Good to Hang out, Talk, and have Dinner with Her. I would be lying if I did not say that I would miss her and All of The Interesting and Intelligent Things that We talk about. But, Ya Know, Life Changes a lot and Although, You may not think so at The Moment, It is Always for The Good. Where She is going is what She is meant to do. I always tell People, It is Destiny! So, This Rerun Newsletter is a Newsletter that explains about The Previous Time that I saw Her. Enjoy and We will miss you a lot ‘round here, Jennifer-Samantha! By The Way, in Case You noticed, You are about learn How to say Hello in 3 Slavic Languages! Ahoj in both Czech and Slovak and, In Polish too!

This Newsletter was Written on October 11th of 2017 (Refer to Newsletter 565)

Cześć, My Readers! Wow! This is a New and Very Challenging-Appearing Greeting. It is actually means Hello in Polish! Now, Contrary to what looks hard to say, It is pronounced “Chest” like the Chest Part of Your Body or in other words, the part of your body that covers Your Heart. So, You learned something new! Way to go, My Readers! Anyway, on to This Week’s Newsletter! So, If You may recall in My Newsletter in 2016 that I have picture of Myself and A Woman who I mention at the End of My Newsletter. Refer to “The Untold Story of Mrs. Bachman and Mrs. James” (Newsletter 509). I mention her like This,

“One Last Note here, I met the Vice President of The College that My Mom works at and told her about My Mom (Who is a Brilliant Teacher as well!) about How Awesome The College is too. I hope that Someday soon They will have Work Programs for People like Me at The College. I know The VP is working on it. So, A Shoutout to VP Jennifer, who I will admit looks more like Her Name should be Samantha, therefore referring to her as Jennifer-Samantha. Shout Out!” 

Well, Jennifer-Samantha, as I refer to Her as, is to say the least is a Very Successful and Busy Woman! That is a Very Good Thing! So, A Couple Weeks ago, She said that She wanted to go to Dinner with us because She is Very Interested about My Fascination with Geography/History/Politics as well as The PTLS Story as well, and All the Places I have been so far. So, She invited us to Dinner last night and in True Jennifer-Samantha Fashion, It happened to be “Volunteer Night” at a Local Restaurant, Texas Roadhouse. So, On top of The Greatness of Going to Dinner, We also helped The Community of McKinney because 20% of Your Bill was Donated to a Group called “Volunteer McKinney.” Well, as Destiny would have it, Grandma Honey-Style, We ran into The Owners of a Place called “Hug’s Cafe”. Yes, that “Hug’s Cafe”, The one who for the First Time in Our Area, Hires those with Special Needs in the Food Industry. Now, Okay, There are Places that Hire those with Special Needs including Grocery Stores and The Baseball Stadium that I once worked at,( It might have been Hot to stand Outside in The Summer but, It was a Fun Job!) But, Hiring those with Special Needs are far in between. It really was an Honor to meet them! What was Funny though, is that When they walked up to us, It was as if They had felt like They had seen us before and Perhaps They did! or it might have been The Right Place at The Right Time type of Destiny. After We talked to them, We sat down and Hung out with Jennifer-Samantha as People wanted to see her and talk to her. Jennifer-Samantha is of and is in High Demand, She is a Hot Commodity, Ya Know! Actually, A Couple that wanted to see her was going to sit somewhere else and Sweet J-S invited them to eat Dinner with us and They did. Doing It Grandma Honey-Style! More Friends! The More, The Merrier! Dani and Claude Day were Their Names. They were Interesting People to talk to, We talked about Fascinating Things and Yes, including Airplanes and Airports. It was Very Interesting, The People that I talked to or were Introduced to. I Thank Jennifer-Samantha in a Big Way because of The Way that She Introduced me with such Pride, “This is Christian, You got to Meet Him! Hear His Story!”. I felt loved and accepted by Everyone! I look forward to Spending Time with Them and Jennifer-Samantha herself, again. Finally, Speaking of The Right Place at The Right Time, I felt a bit frustrated about An Event earlier in the day and so was Jennifer-Samantha, but Our Time hanging out, brought Talking and Laughing.  It reminds me of a Few Weeks Ago when I was Frustrated about Workers taking down a Part of My Fence to cut out a Part of One Our Trees and as I walking, My Neighbor’s Child, “Dom” ran across The Street to Hug Me and I thought to myself, “You have No Idea how much that helped me!”. All in all, Sometimes, Destiny has a Funny Way of working itself through. Gratis Destino! (Thank You Destiny in Italian). Of All Words in Italian, That is My Favorite Phrase!

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. It is Good to feel loved and accepted.  

The Christianville Spirit: Summer of Changes

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Keeps Learning with Hope and Resilience

July 18th, 2018-TCS # 601

Yow, My Readers! It is Hotter than Hades here in Plano, Texas! It is well over 100 Degrees Fahrenheit here! In International Speak, That is basically 38 Degrees Celsius. I only remember that because that is Usually as High as The Shower Settings go in Sweden and Other Places. Anyway, on to This Week’s Newsletter! So, I laugh at Myself now, looking back something I said a Couple Years Ago when both My Brother’s Friend, Zack was moving to Colorado Before My Brother even thought of going there! and, My Mom’s Friend, Former-Student, and Gal Pal Expat, Monica was moving to Stockholm, Sweden, I called it “The Summer of Transition”. I thought it was a Sort-of Big Deal but, In a Positive Way. I still see what I am about to tell you as Positive but, It is Different This Time. A lot of Important People to Me are Moving or are Getting Ready to Move. Yes, It is that “Summer of Transition” thought, quite Literally. In Life, You sometimes find that When Things are going Okay in Your Life, is when People start Moving and Things start Changing. In Two Calendar Weeks, We got a New Car and New Refrigerator! That is a lot for a Short Time Span! But, My Important Friends like Spencer, He is moving to Austin. He has been My Brother, Michael and I’s Friend for a Long Time; Another Friend of Mine that I got to know through My Mom is moving to Florida; My Brother’s Friend is Moving; and, My Cousin, Anna is moving to Chicago for College. This is Happening within The Next Month or so! That is a lot of Change for Me to deal with! Now, I know, with Life comes Changes both Big and Small. The Changes We had are Much Smaller than a Great Friend moving, or Your Cousin moving. To Be Fair, I am happy about My Brother’s Friend moving as well as My Cousin, Anna moving, It is all for Their Good. With Respect to Colorado, It is a Beautiful Place, Don’t get me Wrong. But, There are Places in This Country as well as Around The World that are Better to Visit or Vacation than to actually Live there. For Whatever Reason, Be it Culture (or Lack of Culture); Expensive to Live there, or The Type of People that Live in That Part of The Country. I always like to recite The Line from the Movie, Star Wars, “It’s a Trap!”. I tell My Brother and his Friend that as well. Michael’s Friend agrees with that laughing because He knows It’s True. Spencer, He is moving to Austin for Better Scenery. Texas People are Loving but, Our Scenery here is not always The Greatest. Anna, as I mentioned, is moving for college. My other friend is moving for work. And Michael’s other friend is moving for better opportunities. Oh, and my other cousin, Gram, is moving for college Also. I struggle with Too Many Changes at One Time, Having PTLS makes that Happen. When that happens, It brings about Anxiety in both Excitement for The Person as well as Worry, not to mention It is also a Bit Overwhelming. Now, I know that Some Friends are only a Phone Call, Skype Call, or FaceTime Call away but I struggle sometimes, remembering to keep in Contact with that Person other than Watching their Posts on Facebook, If I am Friends with Them on Facebook. I do know that with People like Spencer, I can go down to Austin to visit them because It is only a 3 Hour Drive. Most of The Time, You tell Yourself that and Realize that 3 Hour Drive is a Bigger Deal to do when Life keeps going, You get Busy and Continue on. Unless that is, I set up a Time to catch up with them like I did while Monica was in Stockholm. I would call her Every 2 Weeks to catch up with Her at a Time that was Good for both Her and I. Whether It is a Person, A Car that I grew attached to, or A Broken Down Refrigerator that needed to be replaced, They all cause a bit of Anxiety for Me and can lead to Emotions for Me as well. All in all, Respect Our Anxiety about Whatever It might be that We PTLSers are Anxious about.

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Sometimes, Change is Good. But, It is not always Easy!