The Christianville Spirit: Food Words

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Knows Love

April 24th, 2019-TCS # 637

Ciao, My Readers! This is a Greeting in Not Only My Ancestral Language but, My Favourite “Food Language”! For The Record, as I have mentioned before that I am part Italian, German, and Puerto Rican. So, What is a “Food Language”, Well in short It is the Language in The Country that surrounds The Food. In Other Words, I Love the Italian Language as well as Italian Food. Now, Let’s Bare in Mind that I have not tried REAL Italian Food; As in Food in Actual Italia (Italy in Italian). Now, I have tried Italian as authentic as It gets One Time in Houston but, I digress. By The Way, Before I move on to This Newsletter, I do need to make an Editors Note to Last Week’s Newsletter. Apparently, The Newsletter that I reran Last Week (Refer to It, If You have not read it yet!) about Popi’s Lighthouse Day Celebration, that I arranged Grandma Honey’s Children, aka My Uncles and Mom in the Wrong Order. For The Record, This is What I wrote Before

“Next, several years later he marries his first wife, Grandma Honey for which we’ll play “Heaven” by Bryan Adams. Next, her and Popi have Julie Smith (who will soon be My Mom when I am born), Bruce Smith (Uncle Bruce), Craig Smith (Uncle Craig), and finally Brian Smith (Uncle Brian). After all those children we’ll play “Sweet Child O’ Mine” by Guns and Roses.” 

This, I think was at a Time, when I wrote This Newsletter and then, released it. I don’t think that I had My Mom help edit to make sure things were Correct and Spelled right.

Anyway, The Corrected Version is Brian Smith (Uncle Brian), Julie Smith (Who will soon be My Mom when I am born), Craig Smith (Uncle Craig) and, Bruce (Bruce Smith) and Playing the Same Song that We played before.

So, With that Out of The Way, On to This Week’s Newsletter! So, This Newsletter that I am rerun was not an Easy Newsletter for Me to Write. I am realizing as well that This Newsletter is a Christianville Classic called “Words, Words, Words!” explaining How I felt about Figurative Language because Us PTLSers are Very Literal.

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, “Words, Words, Words!”  Enjoy!

This Newsletter was written on September 16th of 2015 (Refer to Newsletter 466)

Buena-sera, My Readers! As I like to try different greetings, Buena-sera is Italian for “Good Day”. So, What are we going to Talk about This Week? Well, We are going talk about a Trait in PTLSers that gets often Overlooked. You See, Us PTLSers when it comes to learning, We are Very Literal in Every Sense of The Word. Now, It is Funny that I always say that I am Literal, My Mom tells PTLS Family Members that I am Literal, and I know that I learn a certain way (as does Everyone Else) and I know how I handle things. So, In Short, I believe that I am just Me, Yes I am aware that I have Special Needs, let alone having Potocki-Lupski Syndrome and Yet, I don’t see the big deal of Having PTLS or even Being “Literal” because It has been the Way I have lived My Whole Life. So, In some odd way, It is Normal (or better word, “Typical”) to Me. So, It begs The Question, What is “Being Literal?” and Yes, I had  to ask Myself that too so Don’t Worry! “Being Literal” means that You see Everything for What it is, Everything is, As Is. As It appears or Exactly What The Word is means means Words are Pictures to Me. Being Literal, is to say the least, Challenging sometimes because of Things like Figures of Speech, Odd Phrases and/or Words, and Jokes. Now, Don’t Get Me Wrong, I do get Jokes sometimes, but Sometimes Someone can say something that sounds Serious but, really is just a Joke. So, Figures of Speech, We can call them “Speech Spices” or “Speech Enhancements” because in a way They are. In High School, In order to help catch me up with The Way Most Typical People talk, I had to take a “Figurative Language” class. I had to learn Phrases like “Don’t Let The Cat Out of The Bag” (Keeping a Secret), “It is Raining Cats and Dogs Out There!”(Very Heavy Rain), “Sweep Someone off of Their Feet” (Literally, It means You are taking a Broom and Sweeping their Body away from Their Feet. Figuratively, It means Falling In Love or Liking Someone a Lot), “You are What You Eat” (If You eat Bad Foods, then You feel Bad and Vice Versa), “It is Hotter than Hades Out Here!”(It is Very Hot Outside), and “Pick Yourself up by Your Boot Straps” (Learn from Your Mistakes). Now, In My Mind, that meant, that There is a Cat in a Bag and Why is it in There, and Why can’t we let it out?; It is Literally raining Cats and Dogs (as in, Real Cats and Dogs are falling from The Sky)?; When You say Said thing, You sweep them off there feet?; So, If You eat a Hot Dog than You are a Hot Dog? Add to That, Idioms, Clichés, Metaphors, Similes, and Hyperboles, And You have yourself a Very Confused and Frustrated Me!

Schnikies! I have to say I am having a Bit of a Hard Time Writing This Newsletter, Trying to Remember those Figures of Speech from School and Let Alone trying to Remember what They mean, as well as Explaining it The Best I can to You. But, The Sad Thing is that All These Sayings do not make any sense to Me. It frustrated me and I got a Little Sad because I want You to understand how My Mind works, But It is hard to Explain something that I know that I struggle with, It does not make sense to Me, but People around me use these “Figures of Speech” and Jokes, I always have to ask, “Was that a Joke or Figure of Speech?”. All in all, When You are talking to Your Kids, What You say, They take Word for Word or They are not going understand you, or Just Ignore You.

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Say What You Mean, Mean What You Say.

The Christianville Spirit: 11th Lighthouse Day

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Knows Love

April 17th, 2019-TCS # 636

Happy Lighthouse Day, My Readers! So, Homecoming Week has come to an End, which ends with Lighthouse Day. Now, Homecoming Week did not come without It’s What I call “April Blues”. In other words, that is The Bad Luck of The Month of April that I talked about in Last Week’s Newsletter. Refer to It, If You have not read it. Here is The Link to Make It Easy for You!

the-christianville-spirit-homecoming.html

(Clearing Throat) As I was Saying, So The “April Blues” was in effect This Week. Our Kitchen Sink started Leaking. Long Story, Short, We could not get the Old One off therefore having to get a New One. Another Leak happened and Ruined The Laminate Floor. And, I had to deal with Paco getting Sick and Not Feeling Well while My Mom was having a Business Meeting down The Road. Ohhh Yeah! as My Uncle Bruce would say. So, Because it is Lighthouse Day, I want focus not on Those Facts because I wanted to write about Paco and Me taking Care of Him, but I am wondering now, If that would Hinder the Celebration that This Day, that strangely, I have been looking froward to. Like I said Last Week, Lighthouses are Cool! So, A Day, although in context, Is not a Happy Memory Day, but A Day to Celebrate The Person as well as Lighthouses associated? Well, Then It makes an otherwise Sad Day, be a Little more Happy. Funny Thing, I actually had a Good Newsletter about a Week before Popi (My Mom’s Dad and Person in Question) Passed Away. So, I am going to Rerun It for Him, on Lighthouse Day, to Honor Him.

So, A Little Background First, At This Time in My Life, I was kind of into Facebook, but Only to be Friends with My Friends from High School. Baring in Mind, that at The Time, I had a PC but, I was concerned with Viruses while being on Facebook. Anyway, It was at a Time when You could have Song Playlists on Facebook and I heard One Song and It Made Me think of Popi because at The Time, He was in The Hospital. So, This Newsletter is an Honor to You, Popi! Happy 11th Lighthouse Day!

 This Newsletter written on April 9th of 2008 (Refer to Newsletter 97)

So, A couple days I was on my Facebook page listening to music like I always do and I decided to play “Against the Wind” by Bob Segar and dedicated it to Popi since he’s still in the hospital. And, then I thought “Well, maybe I should detail his life in a list of songs to show the legacy that he has and the legacy he’ll leave in our heart now and forever. Now, my veteran readers of The Christianville Spirit know that I hadn’t hit a good series of newsletter in a while and I’m sure they think we’re long over due. So, here is. I call this series “Soundtrack of Your Life”. You know how we want to know what the world is in God’s Plan for us. Well, think of this way. God is listening to his I-pod, I-phone, or other music devices playing the songs of your life. Which ever stage you’re on, it’s a song. When the song is over, the next song comes on. Or in other words that’s another stage. So, considering Popi’s current condition and believe it or not he’s still chasing nurses around. So, either there must be a lot of nurses to chase or those nurses must pretty for him to stay this long. But, without further a due, this is The Play list of Popi’s Life. First song we’ll start off with is when Popi being born to when he was young “Walk Of Life” by Dire Straits. He was just beginning his life as he was born. Little did he know what a life he was going to live or a legacy he was going to lead? Then, that famous story of him and “Rags” getting into trouble together with the girl that hung around them. For this episode we’ll play “I get by with a little help from My Friends” by The Beatles because even thought they would get into trouble to no end, they have been some pretty good friends. Next, several years later he marries his first wife, Grandma Honey for which we’ll play “Heaven” by Bryan Adams. Next, her and Popi have Julie Smith (who will soon be My Mom), Bruce Smith (Uncle Bruce), Craig Smith (Uncle Craig), and finally Brian Smith (Uncle Brian). After all those children we’ll play “Sweet Child O’ Mine” by Guns and Roses. Later, he sadly divorces Grandma Honey and later married My Steppi Sue, for this we’ll play “Life’s Been Good” by The Eagles. A couple years later, was one of my memories tied to his life and that was the Spring Break that we went to up North to a friend’s cabin; for this we’ll play “Life is a Highway” by Rascal Flatts. About a year later, we went to up to Toledo for My Grandma Mimi 90th Birthday on Super Bowl Weekend when it was in Detroit. That night My Uncle Bruce, Aunt Carolee, and Popi for some reason drove into Downtown Detroit to see all Super Bowl celebrations. For this we’ll play “I Want Rock N’ Roll All Night” by Kiss. So, we’ll add all his life and legacy together and play the “What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong for the last song of Popi’s Play list Series. All in all though, he has led quite an awesome live and legacy. But, no matter what happens to him now. His legacy will live on forever; he’s made a good hand print on the world. And, his hand print is like no other in the world!

Thanks for reading The Christianville Spirit. What’s the Play list like in your life?

The Christianville Spirit: Homecoming Week

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Knows Love

April 10th, 2019-TCS # 635

Happy Homecoming Week, My Readers! Okay, so This is One of Those Greetings of Mine that has a Deeper Meaning! Now, You would think that Homecoming Week means, The Week that You go to the Homecoming Dance, sort of like Prom. It is a Big Thing in Texas, Trust Me! Better yet, Think of it as a Texas Prom. For The Record, I actually went to The Homecoming Dance in High School and Yes, I did most of The Traditions of Homecoming, I digress. So, The Meaning of This So-Called Deep Meaning Greeting! So, First a Little Background Story about This. I will let the 2015 Me Explain! 

This Segment of Newsletter was written on April 29th of 2015 (Refer to Newsletter 448)

I am sure that All of You have That One Time of The Year when If Any Anything Bad is going to Happen, It is going to be in That Month. In Other Words, In Everyone’s Family, There is always that One Month of The Year that You dread it coming because You believe something crazy is going to Happen. For Some, It is a Months like September (for those of 9/11), October, May, or  (Hopefully Not) December. For Our Family, It seems to be April. Nearing The End of March, We see April coming and We think “Oh No! Not Again!”, Every April, I can’t WAIT for April to be over with and Come Out of It Unharmed. So, Why Exactly do I Hate April? It seems that April is The Month that if Someone is going Pass Away or Something Bad is going to Happen, It will be in That Month and Believe Me, It has happened before. You See, Several Members of The Smith Family have passed away within Days of Each Other in Different Years, The First was Uncle Doc on April 14th, 2007,(on Our Birthday Calendar, We put “Homecoming”); The Next Year, 2008, on April 17th, My Mom’s Dad, Popi passed away; and finally, on April 11th, 2010 My Grandma Honey’s Mom, “Grandma Mimi” as We called her, passed too. That is also not to Mention that My Grandma Honey’s Dog, Sugar passed away on April 30th, 2010. So, Since Popi past away back in 2008, April has been sort of a “Bad Luck Month” for Our Family. Now, I will say that There is Some Light that did Come Out of April, Don’t Worry This Newsletter is not going to be that Depressing, I promise You! 

(Back to Present Me)

Now, If You’ll notice, I mentioned that We put The Name of The Person’s “Homecoming” and The Year in which It happened. I’m not sure if I explained it well enough. So, Homecoming (Not The Dance!). My Mom, as well as Her (My) Family, The Smith Family believes that when One goes to Heaven, They are “Going Home”. My Literal Mind thinks “Going Home” means Going Home either to Your Actual Home or Your Hometown. Anyway, Going Home to us means You are going Home to be with God and Jesus because after all, That is Where We all descend for. I noticed with The “Bad Luck Month” of April that All The Deaths that were mentioned from 2015 Me occurred within A Few Days of Each Other in Different Years over The Span of 6 Days, Pretty Much a Week. Now, Yes, I realize that You can’t choose when You die. Death happens Everyday, even on Christmas. But, I think it is Funny and Sad at the Same Time that They occur within a Week. So, Why not make a Memorial Week about it. It may or may not change, The Crazy Month of April, but Why not make Light of it. The Ending of Homecoming Week is My Favourite New Day! The Reason is because I feel that The Person’s Day is Very Important. Yes, I have quite a Few Important Homecoming Days including June 2nd, Ma Day. Honoring My Friend, Deb’s (Shout Out!) Mom who I refer to as Ma and Of Course, One can not forget Lynee Remembrance Day on May 22nd. So, What is The New Day? Well, Last Year was 10 Years since Popi, My Mom’s Dad passed away and I started calling it “Lighthouse Day” because above His Extensive Postage Stamp Collection, was His Lighthouse Collection and Boy, I do remember that He had some Big Ceramic Lighthouses in His Collection. In all Honesty, I would love to have a Few of Them. I mean, You have got to admit that Lighthouses are Pretty Cool! So, Why not name The Day of Popi passing away as Lighthouse Day. It would certainly put Light in an Otherwise Sad Month. Plus, to End Homecoming Week with Lighthouses, How Fun is that?! All in All, Homecoming Week is a Good Way to remember The People that lived, Not always The People that died. It would be Very Depressing the other way around.

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Whether You You want to or Not, You should celebrate those who have passed away on Their Days!

The Christianville Spirit: Independence Cruising

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Knows Love

April 3rd, 2019-TCS # 634

Happy April and 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. Anyway, There was a Reason I put “Ahoj” there, or What I should refer to as The “International Pirate” Greeting. I say that because Ahoy with Y is How We in The US would say the Pirate Greeting. So, As of Right Now, if You can believe it, that It was been 2 Years since I went on a Cruise without My Mom! Hard to Believe that, Right?! Often I watch Cruise Vlogs on YouTube and Reminded of All The Fun I had. But, This Newsletter is not about The Fun I had. Well, Some of It is But, The Part that I want to focus on is The Fact that I showed a lot of Independence because I did This Cruise without My Mom or Brother. Now, One would think that It is No Big Deal to go on Cruise but, For Me, It was a Big Deal!  It was quite a Feat between The Preparations to Actually, Going on the Cruise. So, I am going to rerun The Amazing Story about How It happened. Oh! and I wrote Two Newsletters about It and Therefore, You get to have a Partial Double-Feature. So, Without further a due, I will let the Me from 2017 explain! Enjoy and Happy Cruising!

Portions of This Newsletter was written on April 12th of 2017 (Refer to Newsletter 540) - Part 1

Well, Actually, I have quite an Amazing Feat to Tell You about. I Went on a Cruise. For The First Time in like, 14 Years. 7 Days, 4 People traveling together. Going on The Carnival Breeze to Roatan, Honduras; Belize; and, Cozumel. All without My Mom (Well, Actually, without ANY of My Parents!). Now, I know You are expecting a Traditional Cruise Story, but This is what I believe to be a Very Real Cruise Story. So, a Little Background Story. So, Last Time I went on a Cruise was a lot. Lots of Activity, Go-Go-Go, Do This, Do That, Do This!, and Yes, a Little Recklessness in there too. And, Yes, This Cruise had all the Activity, Things to do constantly, and A Ton of Food, but This Cruise was presented in a Way that Yes, We can do Some Things but, We also have to have some Moderation and Calming in between. On Top of that, It was Done with People that Knew Me well enough to want to Take Me on a Cruise, It was A Wonderful Gesture and Understood Me well enough to Help in The Case that I needed it. So, This Family (A PTLS Family) and I had discussed Several Times about A “PTLS Cruise”, a Mini-PTLS Vacation before or after The PTLS Conference. Well, One Day, They offered for Me to go on a Cruise saying that They will provide The Transportation and You just have to say Say Yes or No. At First, I thought I’m not sure, I went on a Cruise before and It was VERY Overwhelming. I came back more stressed than before. I Am not Sure! Eventually, after some Comfort from both of Them and My Mom, I figured that I would be Stupid to say No. Even after I said, I would go, I was Very Anxious because I knew about All The Activity and Craziness that was Involved in a Cruise. My Mom and I had Several Discussions that How One Simple Experience in One Thing or Even, One Place; Can effect your impression of Said Thing. So, To Me, A Cruise meant that You were running a Mile a Minute doing XYZ and Getting a little Trouble in there never hurt, Right? I am believing that It took a Good Heart-to-Heart with My Friend, Deb (“The Famous Deb”) to convince me that I should go on a Cruise with Them. The Biggest Anxiety that ruled all of Them about going on a Cruise, was The Fact that I was going without My Mom. If I did this, It would be The First Time I went anywhere without My Mom since 2004, when I took a Trip with My Brother to My Mom’s Dad, Popi’s House back when He was around. After I formally said that I was going on The Cruise, I did not know all of the Things that I had to do Mentally to prepare for an Adventure like This, It took Many Meetings with The Family, Talking about Concerns and Questions, Talks with My Mom, a Few Meltdowns, and Preparing My Mind. Now, As The Cruise started coming closer, I got more Anxious. I Want to Make Sure that We have Planned What We are going to do for Excursions! It was One of Those Times, for lack of a Better Way to Describe It. I turned into My Grandma Honey, Got to have a Plan a Month in advance! The Man of The Family, “The Father Figure”, We’ll call him until I say their names, was like “Relax, Everything will be Fine. We will Plan as We Go”. Looking back, I am very Glad I followed His Lead. Anyway, A Day before The Cruise, It was Time to Pack. Thank God, My Mom was there to help! I had Everything that I needed, Sunglasses; Sun Screen; A Tuxedo for Formal Night (Held Two different Days); Swim Suit, but The Most Complicated Part for Me was The Clothes. I was going on a Cruise for a Week without My Mom and I would not have contact with Her for a Few Days at Sea until We reached a Port. It made me Very Anxious to do This! My Mom tried her hardest to help me remember what to wear on What Day and Eventually We settled on “Here are Some Nice Clothes to Wear in The Evening or If It gets Cold” but, also “Let’s get clothes that will Match, either way that You match them. You can Mix and Match if You want to”. So, The Night before The Cruise, We all met for Dinner, and discussed Any other Concerns or Questions that Either of Us had. Right before We go, I hop in The Car, My Mom comforts me and asks if I am Ready or Not and I said, “I am Ready as I will Ever Be”. 

Portions of This Newsletter was written on April 19th of 2017 (Refer to Newsletter 541) - Part 2

I forgot to Mention that I went on a Ropes Course on the Top Deck of The Ship. Me and The PTLS Family Members all did it. It actually was pretty scary but, We figured that Why not try it out?! It took a lot for both of us to do it, We got to do it at Our Pace, and Got applause at The End. I forgot to also mention that I tried a bunch of Different Foods on The Ship, among them, Escargot; Braised Ox Tongue; Veal; Frog Legs; and, Mussels. I found The Frog Legs and Mussels to be the Most Gross. (Sorry Michael!) My Brother, when He was younger LOVED Frog Legs! The Best was The Ox Tongue because It tasted like Pork.

I actually left ALL of My Electronics behind! Yes, I can not believe that either! I had never done that, not since I have ever had Electronics. I will tell you though, It felt really good, not having any Electronics with Me. 

But, anyway It felt like I had forgotten what things looked like, What has going on before and while I was Gone, Feeling like Everything was Changing (and, Construction on My Street during The Process, did not help at all), and Finally, Processing Everything that I did, Places I went, The Fun that We have on The Trip! But, This is where I feel that I should be Real about. 

So, Imagine for Me, something in The Mind of a PTLSer. Now, Up until This Point of My Life, I had never been able to Explain Being Overwhelmed and Why It takes so Long for Me to Recover from Something that Typical People would consider “Fun”. Now, I want to make Clear that I could not have gone with any Better People! And, Yes, I had Lots of Fun! It was Unbelievable, UnBelizeable! (We went to Belize, We can say that!) They made sure that between Their Child and Myself, that We were doing Alright as well as Taking Steps and Provisions to keep us from Getting Overwhelmed or It being too much. Believe Me though, There are Times in a Cruise when It can get Overwhelming, even if You don’t mean it to be. Anyway, on to My Analogy!

So, Imagine that on a Vacation, Trip, or Event, that You have given a Plate of Food, One Item is The Past, One Item is The Fear of Unknown, and One Item is Things You that You do not Understand. Now, Said Items vary in Size depending on The Event in Question. It may be in Large Quantities sometimes, No Big Deal other times. Every Day, You eat the Item and When You do, You have analyze each Item, as well as Each Bite, and Then Digest Each Bite. Well, Imagine that You are eating all This Food at a Lightning Go-Go-Go Pace instead of The Slow Pace that You are used to. Does not sound Easy does it? It sort of reminds me of All of The Food that I ate on The Cruise. I could count 7 Things in various sizes that I ate, literally in a 5 Hour Period. Then, Again, Do as The Romans do, I wanted to try Everything.

I was asked a Very Thought Provoking Question. When was The Last Time that I went on a Trip without ANY Family Members and/or Going to a Family Members’ Home? Well, The Last Time I went on a Trip that I mentioned in Last Week’s Newsletter was with My Brother and We flew to Ohio to Popi’s (My Mom’s Dad) House to drive up north to a Cabin for Spring Break in Northern Lower Michigan (Top of The Mitten) and that was back in 2004. But, Actually, There was a Time I went somewhere without Any Family, just Friends from School. It was when I went to Camp Classen back in Elementary School, Back in The 90’s. It went Way worse than The Cruise, Way Worse! I did not have a lot of Fun at Camp. I had to deal with Bullies, who One Night stole My Underwear while I was showering. They thought it would be Funny to lock me in The Bathroom (Toilet, for You folks Around The World) on The Bus while We were at a Rest Area. There were supposed to be Adults watching Us! And, Yes, They helped, a Little a bit. I have forgave The People in Question for doing that. So, Perhaps, that did not help with The Anxiety about going on The Cruise, on top of previously going on a More Overwhelming Cruise. All in all, The Best for Last Thing that I forgot to mention was about Our Cruise Director, Schwartz. He was a Really Funny Guy! He believed that all of Passengers on “The Lovely and Beautiful Carnival Breeze” was Family. So, After Every Announcement, He would end with “Love You!”. By The Middle of The Cruise, He would say “Love You!” followed by either “Love You More!” or “Stop It, I Love YOU More!”. I, of course, would respond to Him, Pointing upwards “Love You!”. I did get to talk to Him for a Short Time. By The Way, If You want to go on a Cruise and Hear Him say that, Ride on The Carnival Breeze, as He will be on it for Several Months. 

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Vacations are seen Differently through Different Eyes. Independence is what it is all about.

The Christianville Spirit: My Mom's Birth-Month

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Knows Love

March (Marzo) 27th, 2019-TCS # 633

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. Well, It looks like The Month of March (or “Marzo”, as I like to call It) is coming to a Close. This has been quite an Awesome PTLS Awareness Month! You Guys, My Sweet Awesome PTLS Family Members did an Brilliant Job at Spreading Awareness about Potocki-Lupski Syndrome. For That, I am Very Proud of You! Thank You from The Bottom of My Heart, It means a lot to Me.

Now, I am Sad to say that PTLS Month has come to It’s Yearly Close, but Remember that PTLS Awareness goes All Year Long! So Keep on wearing your Green Every Day, Every Week, All Year Long! 

Anyway, on to This Week’s Newsletter! This Month has been a Month of Celebration with PTLS Awareness Month as well as My Mom’s Birthday this Month. “It’s My Birth-Month!”, My Mom would say. Our Friend, Max told us that You should celebrate Your Birthday not just a Day, but A Week, or Even The Entire Month. The Possibilities are Endless. I came to The Realization that I have not written about My Mom’s Birthday. I had written about Grandma Honey’s Birhday. So, Why not do both! First I should mention The Birth of, In My Humble Opinion, the Best Mom Ever! Then again, I have a Good Relationship with My Mom. To Me, that is Very Important. Come to Think of It, a Little Deeper, If It was not for My Mom,

I would have not been born! Cause and Effect! You can follow it as far Back if You want!

If It was not for Great-Grandma Mimi, There would not be Grandma Honey; If It weren’t for Grandma Honey, There would not be My Mom and Of Course, as I always say; If It weren’t for My Mom, then There would not be Me. Funny if You think of It that Way. It becomes More Interesting the More You look at it and Yes, even how far back You can go. So, I thank Grandma Honey, on Her Birthday for Giving birth to My Mom, who gave birth to Me.

As You have heard Me say, I am proud of who I am. I would not be here Today if it was not for My Mom being Born. Believe it or not, Both My Mom and Grandma Honey have Interesting Birth Stories of Each Other. For Grandma Honey, When She was Pregnant with My Mom, She went to The Hospital 3 Times with False Labor until The 3rd Time (3rd Time’s The Charm, They Say!) when My Mom was finally born. However, Funny Story, as a Result of Grandma Honey pushing so hard birthing My Mom, Her Knee came up to Hit The Doctor’s Nose and Broke It! Oops! Now, of Course, with that kind of Luck in The Family, You know that My Mom birthing Her First Child, Me, would come with an Interesting Story. My Mom gave birth to Me via Cesarean Section without ANY Medication, She basically felt Everything. Well, Okay, She was given anesthesia but, It did not work. Plus, I was in Distress trying to come out, so The Doctors decided to do a C-Section and Like I said, She felt Everything. I believe She felt Everything with BOTH My Brother and I (The C-Section Meds did not work when Michael was born either) at The Times we were born. My Mom likes to refer to it as, “Natural Childbirth by C-Section”

So, A Word to The Wise, Anyone who messes with My Mom or Grandma Honey, My Mom She felt Everything and My Grandma Honey will Break Your Nose. To Me, that is Love! So, to Continue The Honoring I will Rerun a Newsletter about My Birth but, It also honors My Mom in Many Ways.

Portions of This Newsletter was written on August 9th of 2017 (Refer to Newsletter 556)

So, This Birthday Newsletter is going to be a Little Different. Less than Traditional. So, Something that Most People don’t think about, Your Birthday is not just Your Birthday, It is also for Your Mom. Your Mom?! You would say. “It’s MY Birthday, not Hers!”. But, Here is the Thing, We would not be here without Our Moms. Our Moms giving birth to us. My Mom and I were talking about it one Night and I asked her, “What would You call the day of My Birth?”. “Mother’s Day of Birthing” and Everyone has one. In Other Words, In a way, Your Birthday is mainly about You but, also about Your Mom. So, What about Your Mom? Well, in Honor of Her, My Mom is Awesome! The Thing is about Your Mom is that You don’t realize how much She does for You from Birth to Now. I Thank My Mom for that Every Day and not just in a “Thanks Mom for Dinner” kind of way. After all, She birthed me, She burped me, She cuddled me, She took care of me, and Sent me to School among Many, Many Things. She does a lot too! She does a lot of Work (that is often Unseen, as to How hard she works) and Representation of not only Myself but, My Special Needs of Potocki-Lupski Syndrome (or PTLS for Short). That Alone deserves an Award! She does a lot of Work for Furthering PTLS and does not Get Paid (Which She should, just My Bias here!) and Eventually Will be! She tells me that She knew I had Something Special about Me and that I was Unique from The Minute that I was Born! From The Moment that She felt Everything giving Birth to Me, She knew She was going to be in for Quite a Ride! Not in the Very Least a Typical Up and Down Ride! How about an Up, Down, Upside Down, and Spinning Ride?! and, Quite a Ride that She has ridden up to Now and Will continue to Ride. Now, Imagine this Whole Ride of PTLS, Working Hard Unseen, and Raising Him Up. Comes to Her Oldest Son turing 30 Years Old on Friday! That is just Cray-Cray! I am not a Gift Receiving kind of Person (It is not My First Love Language), I would rather feel Love with Quality of Time. I would rather Celebrate The People that I know and Love as My Gift. So, that is My Gift to You. All in all, I Thank You to My Readers for Being in My Life. And, I thank My Mom for Birthing Me for You to be in My Life!

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Giving Birth to Give Life. Now, that is Love.

The Christianville Spirit: Keeping in Touch with Friends

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Knows Love

March (Marzo) 20th, 2019-TCS # 632

Happy Spring, My Readers! Boy, I am sure that My Readers here in The Northern Hemisphere, The United States included, are Happy to hear that. Now, not to get Anyone confused but, in Australia, It is The First Day of Autumn (or Fall). Opposite Seasons! Funny how that Works! Anyway, so The Other Day I had a Deep Thought about Something. Something that in Context, I ask Myself more often than I care to admit. I ask Myself, some of The Following Questions, “Remember when This Person moved and Said that We would keep in touch. We have not seen them or talked to Them”; “Whatever happened to So-and-S0?”; “Boy, I have not talked to XYZ Person in a While, It might be Time to call them.” I was reminded of that because Our Former Neighbour who lived across The Street from Us, moved on The Other Side of Dallas-Fort Worth, I remember that We told them that We would come and Visit after They settled in. I remember The Town they live in, just not Where. Now, Believe Me, Sometimes, In Life’s Destiny, We tend to come to a Fork in The Road and They go The Highway Exit One Way and We go The Highway Exit The Other Day. Often times, although if You are Lucky, You see each other sometime again. More than often though, The Former person is replaced with Better person. For Example, The Former Neighbour was replaced with Our Current, Great Neighbours, Miss Patty and Mr. Marshall (Double Shoutout!). We could not have asked for better Neighbours than Them. Now, as a PTLSer, Changes like that can be a Strain in Us, even though It is Normal and It is Okay if It happens. Now, What about The People that You care about? Well, I have several People I care about. But, Yes, Even then, I have a hard time to remember to stay in Contact with Them. It may sound a Bit rigid, but I find that I keep in Contact with People better if There is a Scheduled Time to do so. For Example, When I first met My Friend, Deb (Refer to “The Famous Deb” Newsletter), I talked to Her on and off, We became Great Friends and then I stopped and We did not talk for a Couple Months, not because of Anything that She or I did but, We kind of forgot to keep in Contact. One Day, I thought that I should choose a Day and Time and that is When we talk. Unless One of us is doing something that day, Which We let each other know, when We know that We will talk online that Day. In All Honesty, It gives me something to look forward to in The Week. Now, Bearing in Mind, that Deb has a Much more Straight Schedule than Some People do, so It is Easier to talk with Her. Of Course, Talking to People from Different Parts of The Country or even The World has It’s Challenges because You are dealing with People in a Different Time Zone, so You have to find an Equivalent Time in both Places for It to Work.  I guess It has to do with My Need for Routine. So, If I include My Friends (and, Family for that matter) that I care about Most in My Routine, then I feel that Our Relationship will get better. Another Example is some of My Childhood Friends, We had a Brilliant Relationship with Each Other until around High School when the Childhood Friends, grew up and Went down different Roads. I thought that We would hang out when Big Events. Pardon The “How I Met Your Mother” Reference. So, How many People do You that used to Live Near, or Grew Up with, that You keep in Touch with? How do You stay in Touch?

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Keep in Touch with Your Friends or Family, even though It may not be Easy!

The Christianville Spirit: Great PTLS Day!

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Knows Love

March (Marzo) 13th, 2019-TCS # 631

Velky PTLS Den or Bra PTLS Dag, My Readers! Wow! That is a Double Greeting! You Know that They deal with PTLS but, What are They saying? You would think that It would say “Happy PTLS Day” in another Language but, It is actually “Great PTLS Day”, which is the Equivalent of Happy Day. Yes, I know that PTLS Day was on March (Marzo) 8th and We do celebrate All Month Long but, I thought I would try it out. Velky PTLS Den is “Great PTLS Day” in Czech, Pronounced Literally as it looks (Vel-Kee) and Den is pronounced like a Den in a House. The Other Greeting is from My Favourite Language, Swedish. In Swedish, It is pronounced “Bruh” and “Dog”. For The Record, I learned the Czech way of saying “Happy PTLS Day” from a PTLS Family Member that lives in The Czech Republic (or Czechia in English), that is How I know how to say it. The Swedish Version, I translated. Now, speaking of PTLS Day, I wanted to Thank All of You PTLS Family Members that reading this for Wearing Your Green taking Pictures of Your Lovely Families (or Kids) or Both proudly wearing Green. Some of You PTLS Family Members were Very Creative in how You spread awareness! Several PTLS Members got Their Children’s Schools involved and The School did a “If You wear Green, You get this” kind of the Thing and All Donations went to The PTLS Foundation. Of Course, a PTLS Family Member from Portugal took a Picture of Their Family in The Shape of a Heart. That Most Certainly earned The Most Creative Family Award! Bottom Line, Folks is that I am Very Proud to Know all of You! It touches My Heart to see Everyone spreading awareness of My Uniqueness! From Family, to Neighbours, Relatives and Friends of PTLS Family Members, and Of Course, PTLS Family Members themselves. I salute You! From The Bottom of My Heart, Thank You Very Much! So, in Honor You, I am going to rerun a Newsletter that I feel might benefit you. It talks about Your Child Being Overwhelmed, What in Going in Their Minds at That Time, and What to do about it. Enjoy! I Love You, PTLS Family Members! You are Part of My Family, Quite Literally!

This Newsletter was written on August 23rd of 2017 (Refer to Newsletter 558)

Welcome Back to School, My Readers! Okay, actually, Your Children are probably have already been told that or will be told that! Yes, It is Back to School Time! The Time when Everyone, young and old go back to School. I guess You could consider This Newsletter, School. Because I teach you things that You may not even think about. How School is that?! Get It? Just figured that I would make a Joke for those actually Going to School, both Kids and Young Adults. Young Adults can go to School too via College. Anyway, on to This Week’s Newsletter! So, Speaking of School, Going back to School means at least for us, PTLSers, that We finally get into a Nice Routine. I remember I did. I obviously talk about The Importance of Routine in My Newsletters a lot. Routine is Very Important to us PTLSers. But, Here is something that I am not sure that I have talked about or have only mentioned in Brief. Usually, I mention it at The End of an Exciting Event in My Life that I tell you. Or It is in the Newsletter after. So, What Am I talking about? Well, Like I said Routine is Important but, being Human and having Out-of-Routine Events happen. That is a Given. Like a Vacation, A Family Road Trip, A Cruise, Someone coming to Visit, or Some Kind of Adjustment to Our Routine. The Thing that makes it easier if It is Predictable, but Again, that does not happen. I am reminded of a Question of One of The PTLS Member’s Boyfriend asked me at The Conference, Being that You need Routine, How do You come down from a Routine-Changing Event? Usually, It involves what I call a Recovery from Whatever Event. My Theory is that My Recovery comes from a lot of different factors like How Big is The Event? Lots of People or a Group of People; How Much of a Difference in Routine am I dealing with? For The PTLS Conference, It was 4 Days. For My Cruise, It was a Week but, with Somewhat of a Different Routine than My Own. and, Probably, The Biggest Factor, What is The Craziness Level in This? 10 being Lots of Activity and/or Distress (or Both) or 0 being I am going out to Dinner with Friends to a Familiar Restaurant. So, How do I recover from Something like a PTLS Conference? So, once The Event ends, I describe it as Driving Very Fast on a Highway and all of a sudden, There is Nothing pushing you, Nothing left to do except Slow Down and go back to Your Routine. To Me, that basically means, that I have to Literally Slam on My Brakes and that usually causes me to Need Time to Calm Down or What I call, “Coming Down” (In Kids, It would be called a Meltdown, only They cry, scream, and kick their legs) after all The Excitement. I have one after Every Big Event that I go to. What I mean is that I am Tired Physically and Mentally. I am Overwhelmed.

Sometimes, My Excitement gets to be Too Much for Me to Handle before My Big Event is over, There have been numerous times when that happens. Two Times that I really remember, Once while at Disney World when I was Kid and Another when We were driving to a PTLS Member’s House during The Stockholm and London Trip.  

After I have My “Coming Down” and Assess all of My Emotions, and Is It normal that I am having them. Then, I get into My Routine as much as I can but, Also It still takes a while to Digest, depending on The Size of The Event. PTLS Conferences (Refer to Any PTLS Conference Newsletter), Great Wolf Lodge (Refer to “Great Wolf Lodge” Newsletter), My Cruise with PTLS (Refer to “Cruise of a Lifetime” Newsletter), It took anywhere from a Week to Week and a Half to Recover. It does help to talk to My Mom about Everything, both exciting (which comes first) and then Emotional, It also helps to Listen to Soft Music (Back when The Great Wolf Lodge thing happened, I listened a Ukulele version of The New Zealand National Anthem. It is Beautiful, I recommend it!), I Take a Nap, or Watch a YouTuber driving on The Road and Listen to sounds of The Road and Bridges (I like Bridges more because They make a Better Sound). Just some Quiet Time with Little to No Activity is all I need. But, I know that all of Us PTLSers have the Same Needs like This, so I am not Alone. Only the Little Kids cannot express this well for a Parent to know what is going on, so The Parent complains of The Child’s Meltdown, not really understanding what is going on. This happened to Me when I was Little, but Good Thing, My Mom knew what to do and Still knows My Facial Expressions which She knows when I am Overwhelmed and Ready for a “Come Down”. When I was Younger, The Teachers could always tell when I had spent the Weekend with My Dad because of The Lack of Routine and Too Much Stimulation, I had My “Come Downs” Monday Mornings at School and They said, I could not focus. I would rock back and forth, hum, and Stim More intensely, and The Teachers had a Problem with getting me to re-focus. But, They knew that I would be Okay in a Day or Two and Back to My Old Self. All in all, Going back to School means a lot of Excitement both Good and Bad, We PTLSers love School, Love to watch The Kids, Just have respect for Our Need to withdraw to “Come Down”.

Thanks For Reading The Christianville Spirit. Celebrate going Back to School, Balanced with Quiet Time.

The Christianville Spirit: PTLS Awareness Month Double Feature

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Knows Love

March (Marzo) 6th, 2019- TCS # 630

Happy Potocki Lupski Syndrome Awareness Month, My Readers! I write that Every Year and It is quite a Mouthful to say but, Happy Potocki-Lupski Syndrome Awareness Month; Happy PTLS Awareness Month, or Put simply Happy PTLS Month! As You all know (or Should Know), March or “Marzo” as I like to call it, Is known as Potocki-Lupski Syndrome Awareness Month and March 8th is PTLS Awareness Day. So, What is PTLS? To give you a brief history of it, PTLS was named after Dr. Potocki and Dr. Lupski in Houston, TX. I was diagnosed with it when I was 3 Years Old and at that time, It was a called “A Duplication of Chromosome 17p11.2.” on March 8th, 2007, Dr. Potocki and Dr. Lupski had it named after them. For This Week’s Newsletter, I am going to Give You a Double Feature! The First Feature explains What PTLS Awareness Month means to Me that I feel is a Perfect Explanation of How I feel that PTLS Awareness Day is like. First Though, I want to How Proud I am to Have PTLS! I embrace It Every Day! Sure, It can be a Bit Hard at Times, PTLS is not Perfect, but, I would not trade it for Anything. I am amazed at How Far We have come in My PTLS Family! When PTLS was named 12 Years Ago, We only knew People in The United States, The United Kingdom, and France. We had not known anyone in other Far-Away Places! Today, We know People in Sweden, Norway, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Czechia (or The Czech Republic), Slovakia, The United Kingdom, Spain, France, Portugal, The Balkan Region, Parts of Asia, Australia, New Zealand and Many Many More Places! On Top of That, My Mom and I have gotten the Amazing Opportunity to be Sponsored to be able to Go, See, and Meet PTLS Family Members from The United Kingdom, Sweden, and Spain! And, Many More Places coming! Never, back 12 Years Ago in 2007 would I have thought that I would be At This Point! Blessed to Know PTLS Family Members from All over The World! and, that alone is A Whole Lot to be Proud of! So, I dedicate My Newsletter’s Double-Feature to You, My PTLS Family! Happy PTLS Day, Everyone!

First Feature!

(Written on March 8th of 2017; Refer to Newsletter 536 or Christianville Classics List)

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.

Second Feature with Some Edits!

 This Newsletter was originally written in May of 2015 (Refer to Newsletter 450)

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. Having PTLS is what makes me Unique and I am Proud of It! What makes You Unique?