On Saturday I was driving my truck when I looked in the rear view mirror and saw Christopher wearing Philips glasses in the back seat. They are prescription glasses so I asked him to stop playing around. Christopher said, "I can't see, I need glasses too."
Kimberly is a much kinder parent than I am, she set an eye exam appointment at Empire Vision. We pack all 4 of us off to Empire Vision for a 6 pm appointment on Wednesday night. Our appointment was the last of the night for the Dr., we get called in at 6:45.
20 minutes later a very frustrated eye Dr. comes out. "I couldn't get a prescription for him because he kept pretending he couldn't see. Every adjustment I gave him, he pretended he couldn't see. Finally I told him to cut it out, and read the darn letters." Right about then, C-Dog experienced the miracle of sight, he could read the letters. The Dr. said "I wrote him a prescription that will let him get glasses but won't hurt his eyes... in case ;) he doesn't need them. Come back on Thursday after 3:00 to pick up his new glasses.
Wednesday night, Christopher asks if I will pick him up early for school, since picking up his glasses is kind of like a Dr.'s appointment. Allison agrees to pick him up the moment school gets out to take him.
When Christopher gets out of school he tells us that he didn't do his computer class. When it was time for the kids to go, Chris told the teacher "I have Dr.s instructions that I can't use a computer without my glasses." The teacher told him to read a book instead and he did.
Finally C-Dog gets his crystal clear glasses.... an hour later he is at I Love NY Pizza with his very patient sister Allison. He goes to the soda machine to fill his cup, but pauses. He reaches into his pocket, pulls out the shiny case, and puts on his glasses to read the labels on the soda machine so he can fill his cup with Pepsi.
As I laugh about all of this, the best part was the face of the Dr. when he came out of the exam. Next time I am getting him a white cane and a Labrador retriever. The over/under on the glasses is one week.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Monday, October 22, 2007
Extended Rotary Family
I was an active Rotarian for about 3 years, and I just lost interest in it. We had a nice breakfast once a week, and it was a nice social vacation from the solitude of being an "at home worker". I found it a suitable replacement for the water cooler at the cubicle farm I used to work at.
We moved to Colonie in 2006, and I left my Niskayuna Rotary and never joined Colonie. I felt like I got away with something.
Then I began a series of events that led me to feel much more commited to Rotary than I had been before.
My daughter Sabrina came home from school in September 2006 and told me that she was going to apply for her Study Abroad through the Colonie-Guilderland Rotary. That was erie to me. Here I was feeling the direct benefit of Rotary. Through that experience, I met Tom Dwyer and Bob Moore. They both were so generous with their time. They made this trip happen for Sabrina. On 2 occasions I took Sabrina to meet her Rotary Group. On both occasions there were women who asked Sabrina to sit with them, and I appreciated what a positive model this is for my daughter to see.
As Sabrina began to tell people that she was going abroad, I heard people express doubt. "Don't you know what happened to Natalie Holloway", "I wouldn't trust my daughter to people I don't know." I heard myself saying... "You don't understand, this is a Rotary program." "I am not trusting my daughter to a family I don't know. I trust the club there, and the club here, and the process. If there is a problem, there are people who care, and will resolve it. There is no way that a host club would leave my daughter stranded." I couldn't believe I was lauding this organization, and at the same time didn't think it was a fair investment of my time.
The next nudge along the way came from Blase Mercoglan. Blase was a Past District Governor who was a member of the Niskayuna Club. I never got to know Blase when I went to the Nisky Rotary. Blase lives in Florida half the year, so he was out of town as often as he was in town.
In June, Blase called me and said "The Niskayuna Rotary needs help." Membership had dwindled and there weren't enough members to keep it going. I felt terrible. I thought of the 53 year history, and the members who had kept the organization alive and well. 50 years of scholarships to Nisky High School. It just was really bad news to me. Blase asked if I would commit to help him get it going again.
I agreed in an obliged kind of way. I was going to show up, and hope my attendence was enough. It has been about 4 months now since I have made that commitment, and I feel better than ever about the prospects for Rotary.
Throughout the summer I have gotten to know Blase. We went to the Gift of Life Golf Tournament. We visited other lapsed Rotarians. We talked about mission, and why people become active Rotarians in the first place.
Blase asked our District Leadership to help us out. We ended up with Harriet Noble, Mike Popolizio, John Eaton and others coming to our meeting. I learned more and more about the projects that other Rotarians have taken on. Now I can't imagine a better way to spend my breakfast hour on Tuesdays.
Now my membership is active, and I am ready to go wherever Rotary takes me. I will try to be a building block for Niskayuna to grow with. If that doesn't work, I will go to another club. In any case, I can't imagine turning my back on Rotary ever again.
We moved to Colonie in 2006, and I left my Niskayuna Rotary and never joined Colonie. I felt like I got away with something.
Then I began a series of events that led me to feel much more commited to Rotary than I had been before.
My daughter Sabrina came home from school in September 2006 and told me that she was going to apply for her Study Abroad through the Colonie-Guilderland Rotary. That was erie to me. Here I was feeling the direct benefit of Rotary. Through that experience, I met Tom Dwyer and Bob Moore. They both were so generous with their time. They made this trip happen for Sabrina. On 2 occasions I took Sabrina to meet her Rotary Group. On both occasions there were women who asked Sabrina to sit with them, and I appreciated what a positive model this is for my daughter to see.
As Sabrina began to tell people that she was going abroad, I heard people express doubt. "Don't you know what happened to Natalie Holloway", "I wouldn't trust my daughter to people I don't know." I heard myself saying... "You don't understand, this is a Rotary program." "I am not trusting my daughter to a family I don't know. I trust the club there, and the club here, and the process. If there is a problem, there are people who care, and will resolve it. There is no way that a host club would leave my daughter stranded." I couldn't believe I was lauding this organization, and at the same time didn't think it was a fair investment of my time.
The next nudge along the way came from Blase Mercoglan. Blase was a Past District Governor who was a member of the Niskayuna Club. I never got to know Blase when I went to the Nisky Rotary. Blase lives in Florida half the year, so he was out of town as often as he was in town.
In June, Blase called me and said "The Niskayuna Rotary needs help." Membership had dwindled and there weren't enough members to keep it going. I felt terrible. I thought of the 53 year history, and the members who had kept the organization alive and well. 50 years of scholarships to Nisky High School. It just was really bad news to me. Blase asked if I would commit to help him get it going again.
I agreed in an obliged kind of way. I was going to show up, and hope my attendence was enough. It has been about 4 months now since I have made that commitment, and I feel better than ever about the prospects for Rotary.
Throughout the summer I have gotten to know Blase. We went to the Gift of Life Golf Tournament. We visited other lapsed Rotarians. We talked about mission, and why people become active Rotarians in the first place.
Blase asked our District Leadership to help us out. We ended up with Harriet Noble, Mike Popolizio, John Eaton and others coming to our meeting. I learned more and more about the projects that other Rotarians have taken on. Now I can't imagine a better way to spend my breakfast hour on Tuesdays.
Now my membership is active, and I am ready to go wherever Rotary takes me. I will try to be a building block for Niskayuna to grow with. If that doesn't work, I will go to another club. In any case, I can't imagine turning my back on Rotary ever again.
Friday, October 5, 2007
What my grandmother said about Facebook...
Sometimes I think how profoundly the world has changed. Then I consider about how superficial some of the change is. I think of how foriegn a computer would seem to my my grandmother. I mean she never even mastered a touch-tone phone, she was a rotary girl. She thought phone numbers began with names.. "Bayside 9", or "Halesite 7".
The core principles remain of people remain the same though. For generations it has been said "If you sleep with dogs you wake with fleas". My grandmothers insight into Facebook circa 1970 was "tell me who your friends are, and I will tell you who you are." You can put a Hollister shirt on it, a Razor Phone to it's ear, and an IPOD Nano in it's pocket but this statemet is no less true today.
If you want to know who your kids are and what their "self image" is, and what they aspire to then you should check out their MySpace and Facebook. From there follow the trails to their friends MySpace pages. This is what your son or daughter has thoughtfully authored to tell their peers who they are. It is not an accident, or gossip. This is the costume d'jour they have chosen.
I just read an article about Universities and Colleges using these social networking tools to screen admissions applications. Of course they do! I think this is awesome. I have long been frustrated with the insinceriety that goes into the college admissions process. It is like a reward for the kid who pays a tutor to raise his SAT scores, joins civic organizations for the juice it buys, and takes softball electives to boost a GPA. I am pleased to hear that someone at the better schools is giving some thought into who gets to sit in that seat at orientation. It really is a treasure that we make sure goes to the right people. I have been at the mailbox when the rejection letters roll in, and the acceptance letters. This is high stakes stuff for a 17 year old.
I found my 20's as a time to seek out some integrity. I had identities with my macho military guy friends, my thoughtful Quaker friends, my business friends, my in-laws and myself. These identities were mutually exclusive in many cases. I walked around with different personalities for different people. I promise there is no peace in that. Willingness to sacrafice polularity for integrity was a bridge I had to cross. There is a real peace in having your outside match your inside.
Now I encourage kids to think about who they really are. Are you the ambitious kid of your college application, or are you the kid with the beer bong down your throat on MySpace who lists 4:20 as his favorite hobby. As romantic as it is to think you are both.... you are probably neither. My advice to you is... pick a horse and ride it. If you start living like the person you aspire to be... you will find yourself moving closer and closer to being that person. Now go clean up your Facebook page.
The core principles remain of people remain the same though. For generations it has been said "If you sleep with dogs you wake with fleas". My grandmothers insight into Facebook circa 1970 was "tell me who your friends are, and I will tell you who you are." You can put a Hollister shirt on it, a Razor Phone to it's ear, and an IPOD Nano in it's pocket but this statemet is no less true today.
If you want to know who your kids are and what their "self image" is, and what they aspire to then you should check out their MySpace and Facebook. From there follow the trails to their friends MySpace pages. This is what your son or daughter has thoughtfully authored to tell their peers who they are. It is not an accident, or gossip. This is the costume d'jour they have chosen.
I just read an article about Universities and Colleges using these social networking tools to screen admissions applications. Of course they do! I think this is awesome. I have long been frustrated with the insinceriety that goes into the college admissions process. It is like a reward for the kid who pays a tutor to raise his SAT scores, joins civic organizations for the juice it buys, and takes softball electives to boost a GPA. I am pleased to hear that someone at the better schools is giving some thought into who gets to sit in that seat at orientation. It really is a treasure that we make sure goes to the right people. I have been at the mailbox when the rejection letters roll in, and the acceptance letters. This is high stakes stuff for a 17 year old.
I found my 20's as a time to seek out some integrity. I had identities with my macho military guy friends, my thoughtful Quaker friends, my business friends, my in-laws and myself. These identities were mutually exclusive in many cases. I walked around with different personalities for different people. I promise there is no peace in that. Willingness to sacrafice polularity for integrity was a bridge I had to cross. There is a real peace in having your outside match your inside.
Now I encourage kids to think about who they really are. Are you the ambitious kid of your college application, or are you the kid with the beer bong down your throat on MySpace who lists 4:20 as his favorite hobby. As romantic as it is to think you are both.... you are probably neither. My advice to you is... pick a horse and ride it. If you start living like the person you aspire to be... you will find yourself moving closer and closer to being that person. Now go clean up your Facebook page.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
The passing of the seasons
One unintended benefit of Sabrina's trip is my pleasure with the passing of summer. We are now feeling Autumn in the air, and our world feels very different than it was on Aug. 16th when Sabrina left.
I know that we have one autumn, one winter, and one spring to go.
When I talk to Sabrina on the phone, I can here her more assertive self coming out. I can tell that she has had to exercise her voice a little over the months and that is a good thing. I think as parents we sense our kids needs, and try to anticipate for them. Now Sabrina is her own spokeman.
We ordered Sabrina's Senior photo, and her yearbook. That was also fun, I know that when the yearbook will be with Sabrina for a long time.
The most common question I get asked nowadays is... "How is your daughter doing in that country in South America." It really is a delight to be so proud of my child. I can usually wax on for 10 minutes, when a one word answer would have done. I just can't help being effusive.
We ordered some siding for our house that I will be putting up over the next few weekends. I will post some photos so it isn't too much of a shock for Beenie to come home to.
I know that we have one autumn, one winter, and one spring to go.
When I talk to Sabrina on the phone, I can here her more assertive self coming out. I can tell that she has had to exercise her voice a little over the months and that is a good thing. I think as parents we sense our kids needs, and try to anticipate for them. Now Sabrina is her own spokeman.
We ordered Sabrina's Senior photo, and her yearbook. That was also fun, I know that when the yearbook will be with Sabrina for a long time.
The most common question I get asked nowadays is... "How is your daughter doing in that country in South America." It really is a delight to be so proud of my child. I can usually wax on for 10 minutes, when a one word answer would have done. I just can't help being effusive.
We ordered some siding for our house that I will be putting up over the next few weekends. I will post some photos so it isn't too much of a shock for Beenie to come home to.
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