John and I took Rob out to breakfast this morning. He is so outgoing and sociable, and everyone knows him because he's so involved in the community, attending every sporting event and play. I am always so impressed when people who have had to face so much adversity, like Robby and his mental handicap, and Anthony Waltemeyer with his cancer, have much more positivity than the average person who has had smooth sailing. I should have him speak to my class sometime about how to advocate for yourself, be resilient, and to always do your best with the hand you were dealt. Grandpa Fred was released from the hospital today, and his poor health has made his children grow closer in the last couple months. Maybe that was God's plan. We had a nice visit at the nursing home, and Grandma was much more alert and talkative today. Yesterday she was feeling worked up because sometimes her Alzheimers makes her think that her two sons are still young and that she doesn't know where they are. What a horrible feeling that must be. They give her a Zanex pill, and in an hour she doesn't remember that she was ever feeling upset. Dave and the kids were playing UNO when we went to pick them up from Mom's. They enjoyed "the best macaroni ever" that Dave makes and "the best brocoli and cheese in the world" that Gram makes. They watched Parent Trap and had fun at the indoor pool. I had my monthly discussion group, The World Table, at the Junction Lounge and had a good conversation with a lady named Barbara about how it's always best to be positive and model ethical, dignified, and compassionate behavior to anyone we see that might be making poor choices because of stress or lack of moral role models. She said that if she ever sees an abusive parent or domestic abuse in public she always stops to say "You have your hands full, look at these beautiful children, what blessings, can I help you with anything?" I think that a lot of people turn their head to situations that could be deescalated by a simple statement like that. My mom said she saw a couple at the pool, and they kept saying that the two year old wasn't theirs, that he's a foster child, that's why his hair looks like that...I think that's an awful thing to say, and I hope that now with Barbara's advice and God's help I would have the right words to show them how to love everyone like a brother. John is a wonderful, always there to help, would take the shirt off his back kind of friend, and right now his is taking our friend's daughter to Mason City to meet her dad because our friend needs to go see her brother in the hospital. John took all our kids so that I can finish typing my students' poems for Haiti relief. I pray that her brother, Josh, is healed. I pray that Spring comes quickly so that GGB and others who have been stuck inside for much of this snowy winter can get out and have a tea party with their neighbors in the back yard. I pray that I do a good job advertising for the school's Fun Time Friday Carnival and that the public comes and enjoyes themselves and the school makes some money. I pray that God's purpose for me is fulfilled everyday.
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