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We were out to dinner with family and friends at the Olive Garden. Jodie was at the head of the table in her powerchair. I was sitting by her, trying to tuck my walker between us...as out of the way as I could.
An older gentleman came over and started talking to us. His hat said "2nd Ranger" on it and he used to parachute out of planes, "The most fun you can have without getting naked."
He asked Jodie what she had...then what I have. She told him cerebral palsy. He told us that growing up he had a friend who was like me..."A mess on the outside, but beautiful on the inside".
Hmm. An interesting way to put it!
Offended? Na! Older guy, very kind words. I think he probably underestimated us, not realizing that Jodie and I work, have a home, a van...and that the seventeen year-old at the table was ours.
He asked if we knew Jesus. "Yes we do!"
He gave Jodie and I each a golden medallion. One side reads: "America, the land of the free, only as long as it remains the home of the brave!"
The other side reads: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16.
When this guy was leaving, he stopped by and told us what a beautiful family we all were. We thanked him.
When the bill came, the manager came over and thanked us for coming in. She then told us that someone had anonymously paid $100 toward our gratuity.
Eric says the guy has spoken at his school, but he cannot remember his name. My Googling fingers failed to find him.
2nd Ranger guy, from the mess of me outside and whatever beauty my Lord affords me on the inside, thank you!
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Monday, March 18, 2013
Good news...dumbfounded
Jodie had a doctor appointment the other day with a neurologist. A month ago Jodie went to see this doctor for the first time so he could refer her for an mri.
Last summer, our eye tor picked up that Jodie was not seeing in the lower portion of her vision. It's tricky to understand. When you look straight ahead, you can see the floor in your peripheral vision; Jodie cannot. Jodie has been wearing bifocals, but now we know that she can't see out of the lower lens.
This loss of vision probably happened subtly over the course of years, so slowly that Jodie did not notice the change.
After a couple field of vision tests over a few months, our eye doctor thought that an mri might be in order to make sure there was not any growth producing pressure in Jodie's head, on the optic nerve, causing Jodie's loss of vision.
Jodie saw the neurologist last month. He did a few simple tests to witness that Jodie was not seeing in the lower part of her peripheral vision. He then ordered that an mri be done.
Jodie had the mri three weeks ago. A week after, she called the doctor's office to see if there was any news regarding the mri. After few call backs, the office acknowledged they had the mri results, but that Jodie would need to make an appointment with the doctor to find out the results.
An appointment was made. Two weeks. It bothered us that they would not tell us the mri results over the phone, and would make us wait two weeks to tell us.
If there was anything bad in the mri, they wouldn't make us wait two weeks to find out, right? But, if the mri was clear, they would tell us over the phone, or send us a note, wouldn't they? We were confused.
When Jodie first went to see this doctor a month ago, her mom and sister took her. The doctor's office has a parking garage. Our van is too tall for parking garages. This time I drove Jodie to the office and found street parking with room in the rear for the lift.
Jodie's mom and sister met us at the appointment. Jodie's sister and I went back with Jodie to meet with the doctor.
To our amazement, the neurologist acted as if he had not seen Jodie before. He did not seem to really know why we were there. We asked for the mri results. Oh yeh...those. The new mri showed no change over the mri Jodie had done in the 90's. He seemed surprised that we did not already know the results.
We asked about Jodie's limited vision. He proceeded to test Jodie's peripheral vision himself. He asked whether Jodie really did not see down there, or just did not see in color. He did not have any answers as to why her vision was limited, but that he could refer us to a neurological optometrist.
We left dumbfounded. A clear mri was good news. Reasons for Jodie's limited vision still elusive.
Should we be concerned? Who knows...
Last summer, our eye tor picked up that Jodie was not seeing in the lower portion of her vision. It's tricky to understand. When you look straight ahead, you can see the floor in your peripheral vision; Jodie cannot. Jodie has been wearing bifocals, but now we know that she can't see out of the lower lens.
This loss of vision probably happened subtly over the course of years, so slowly that Jodie did not notice the change.
After a couple field of vision tests over a few months, our eye doctor thought that an mri might be in order to make sure there was not any growth producing pressure in Jodie's head, on the optic nerve, causing Jodie's loss of vision.
Jodie saw the neurologist last month. He did a few simple tests to witness that Jodie was not seeing in the lower part of her peripheral vision. He then ordered that an mri be done.
Jodie had the mri three weeks ago. A week after, she called the doctor's office to see if there was any news regarding the mri. After few call backs, the office acknowledged they had the mri results, but that Jodie would need to make an appointment with the doctor to find out the results.
An appointment was made. Two weeks. It bothered us that they would not tell us the mri results over the phone, and would make us wait two weeks to tell us.
If there was anything bad in the mri, they wouldn't make us wait two weeks to find out, right? But, if the mri was clear, they would tell us over the phone, or send us a note, wouldn't they? We were confused.
When Jodie first went to see this doctor a month ago, her mom and sister took her. The doctor's office has a parking garage. Our van is too tall for parking garages. This time I drove Jodie to the office and found street parking with room in the rear for the lift.
Jodie's mom and sister met us at the appointment. Jodie's sister and I went back with Jodie to meet with the doctor.
To our amazement, the neurologist acted as if he had not seen Jodie before. He did not seem to really know why we were there. We asked for the mri results. Oh yeh...those. The new mri showed no change over the mri Jodie had done in the 90's. He seemed surprised that we did not already know the results.
We asked about Jodie's limited vision. He proceeded to test Jodie's peripheral vision himself. He asked whether Jodie really did not see down there, or just did not see in color. He did not have any answers as to why her vision was limited, but that he could refer us to a neurological optometrist.
We left dumbfounded. A clear mri was good news. Reasons for Jodie's limited vision still elusive.
Should we be concerned? Who knows...
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Yes God...I know...
Last night when Jodie and I got home, our van was spewing white smoke out the front. We panicked. We tried to hurry to get out...which is a snails pace at best.
I got Jodie down on the lift. The front of the van seemed really hot. When Eric said he thought it was just what he and I had witnessed before, only we had seen it happen when it was raining and the roads were really wet.
Our favorite nephew Vance came over this morning to look at it. After the van ran awhile, the white smoke was back. I called the shop, and then I dug the card out with the phone number of the tow company that can tow Sprinter vans.
The cab to the tow truck was twice as high as our van. I don't know how I got in and out...but I managed. ;)
The tow guy was nice. He had me lead him out of our neighborhood. He turned left on Powell. I would have gone down to Sandy and turned left there, but I figured he knew what he was doing. Turns out he could have used my advice. He was a really nice guy. He was lamenting the fact that his next run was 180 miles away in Yakima to pick up a truck,
I was soon sitting in the waiting room at Breslin & Wallace. The "or I'll eat my hat!" (Timberline Dodge guy who did commercials before all the Chrysler dealerships were closed...including his) guy was there. He was calling workers of the car lot and telling them which cars needed prepping. He looked at me and said "You need a job?" I said "I have a job!" Now I wish I had waited to see what he was offer me. Who would offer a disabled guy like me a job anyways...;0)
I was really happy when the guy came out and told me that nothing was wrong. Sprinter vans have many peculiaralities, including an auxiliary heater that heats thee van before the main heater kicks in. Sometimes it just lets off some steam.
But...we needed a new battery. $250. Was I surprised at the price? Not really. Everything for the sprinter cost more.
When they changed the battery, it messed up our stereo/video system. The screen did not pop out. The station playing was the Catholic station...the song: "God is in control!" I smiled. Our budget is very tight these days and Jodie and I were both squeamish about how much today.
Yes, God is in control!
Sometimes it takes some white smoke...a tow truck ride...a job offer...a messed up stereo...and a two hour nap...to remember that.
I got Jodie down on the lift. The front of the van seemed really hot. When Eric said he thought it was just what he and I had witnessed before, only we had seen it happen when it was raining and the roads were really wet.
Our favorite nephew Vance came over this morning to look at it. After the van ran awhile, the white smoke was back. I called the shop, and then I dug the card out with the phone number of the tow company that can tow Sprinter vans.
The cab to the tow truck was twice as high as our van. I don't know how I got in and out...but I managed. ;)
The tow guy was nice. He had me lead him out of our neighborhood. He turned left on Powell. I would have gone down to Sandy and turned left there, but I figured he knew what he was doing. Turns out he could have used my advice. He was a really nice guy. He was lamenting the fact that his next run was 180 miles away in Yakima to pick up a truck,
I was soon sitting in the waiting room at Breslin & Wallace. The "or I'll eat my hat!" (Timberline Dodge guy who did commercials before all the Chrysler dealerships were closed...including his) guy was there. He was calling workers of the car lot and telling them which cars needed prepping. He looked at me and said "You need a job?" I said "I have a job!" Now I wish I had waited to see what he was offer me. Who would offer a disabled guy like me a job anyways...;0)
I was really happy when the guy came out and told me that nothing was wrong. Sprinter vans have many peculiaralities, including an auxiliary heater that heats thee van before the main heater kicks in. Sometimes it just lets off some steam.
But...we needed a new battery. $250. Was I surprised at the price? Not really. Everything for the sprinter cost more.
When they changed the battery, it messed up our stereo/video system. The screen did not pop out. The station playing was the Catholic station...the song: "God is in control!" I smiled. Our budget is very tight these days and Jodie and I were both squeamish about how much today.
Yes, God is in control!
Sometimes it takes some white smoke...a tow truck ride...a job offer...a messed up stereo...and a two hour nap...to remember that.
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Our old home...POOF!
Jodie and I lived in three different places during our first three years of marriage. Friend Sam still razes me on that.
In 1992 we moved into a brand new manufactured home. We bought the home in McMinnville and chose all the amenities inside. We had it moved into Baseline Woods in Aloha, no, it was Beaverton, no, it was Hillsboro. The cab company refused to send us a cab...they said we didn't exist.
Memories...Jodie and I sitting at the kitchen table with our 3-paneled corner window drinking coffee and watching the world go by...
...Management telling us to clean our lot from the wood scraps left from the home installers. Boards were frozen to the ground. Old man Frank across the street came over to help. Franked talked to management for us.
...Jeff and Crystal next door with their little girl. Jeff live for the Fourth of July. He was a pyro! The neighbors gathered a potluck under our carport. Jeff lit off his arsenal of fireworks.
...The retired neighbors on the other side. She was skeptical of having a disabled couple next door. Watching our every move...it wasn't hard with as close as the homes were together.
...A favorite memory of mine...Jodie and I had come home for lunch from our jobs at Child Welfare in Hillsboro. Brother-in-law Ken came by and surprised us with pizza. Ken was a bigger than life kind of guy. He was in sales...he could smooze with the best of them. He fought a brain tumor with grace until that December day in '94.
...The day Jodie told me that something felt different. She thought she might be pregnant. My immature faith: "No, God wouldn't do that to us." I bought more pregnancy tests. Friends Brad and Lori came over. Lori gleefully came out and said "Troy, your going to be a papa!"
In July of 1995 we move to the eastside of Portland. Jodie's mom ran a daycare and we knew we'd be needing that. We moved into another manufactured home...this one on it's own lot...however micro it was.
Progress moves us on, but memories never abandon us.
Polygon Northwest plans housing complex for former Aloha mobile home park | OregonLive.com
In 1992 we moved into a brand new manufactured home. We bought the home in McMinnville and chose all the amenities inside. We had it moved into Baseline Woods in Aloha, no, it was Beaverton, no, it was Hillsboro. The cab company refused to send us a cab...they said we didn't exist.
Memories...Jodie and I sitting at the kitchen table with our 3-paneled corner window drinking coffee and watching the world go by...
...Management telling us to clean our lot from the wood scraps left from the home installers. Boards were frozen to the ground. Old man Frank across the street came over to help. Franked talked to management for us.
...Jeff and Crystal next door with their little girl. Jeff live for the Fourth of July. He was a pyro! The neighbors gathered a potluck under our carport. Jeff lit off his arsenal of fireworks.
...The retired neighbors on the other side. She was skeptical of having a disabled couple next door. Watching our every move...it wasn't hard with as close as the homes were together.
...A favorite memory of mine...Jodie and I had come home for lunch from our jobs at Child Welfare in Hillsboro. Brother-in-law Ken came by and surprised us with pizza. Ken was a bigger than life kind of guy. He was in sales...he could smooze with the best of them. He fought a brain tumor with grace until that December day in '94.
...The day Jodie told me that something felt different. She thought she might be pregnant. My immature faith: "No, God wouldn't do that to us." I bought more pregnancy tests. Friends Brad and Lori came over. Lori gleefully came out and said "Troy, your going to be a papa!"
In July of 1995 we move to the eastside of Portland. Jodie's mom ran a daycare and we knew we'd be needing that. We moved into another manufactured home...this one on it's own lot...however micro it was.
Progress moves us on, but memories never abandon us.
Polygon Northwest plans housing complex for former Aloha mobile home park | OregonLive.com
Sunday, January 13, 2013
One in the can!
I just finished a website for a friend of a friend at work. He has a fishing guide service.
Brad was paying pretty big bucks for an old-style FrontPage website. I moved it to the WordPress platform...modern, easy to use, very professional. Check it out:
sidewaysfishing.com
I discovered how wonderful Nextgen Gallery handles photos. From my previous work, handling photos and photo galleries has been somewhat tricky. Nextgen was easy to use and the photo galleries look great.
A couple tricky things I did in this project. One, I used a fishing template I found at a online fishing magazine. To get the slideshow in the top part area of the template took me hours...ok...days to figure out. By trial and error I finally got it!
Another feat was that I designed the website on a subdomain for the client to see, then I helped the client move the domain "sidewaysfishing.com" from their old host over to GoDaddy, where I was able to forward the nameserver to my webhost, then I moved the WordPress site I had made on the test subdomain over to the domain.
And it all worked!
Technical stuff, I know. I felt a huge sense of accomplishment. I now know that I can successfully walk other clients through this tricky process.
Anyway, my prices are low and I work hard to make the website exactly how the client wants it. I also maintain the website for you. Check out my portfolio:
http://givemeastory.com/portfolio/
If you need a website, please send me an email twittren@outlook.com with details of what you need. I will let you know what I can do for you and give you a bid.
Help me expand my portfolio.
;)
Brad was paying pretty big bucks for an old-style FrontPage website. I moved it to the WordPress platform...modern, easy to use, very professional. Check it out:
sidewaysfishing.com
I discovered how wonderful Nextgen Gallery handles photos. From my previous work, handling photos and photo galleries has been somewhat tricky. Nextgen was easy to use and the photo galleries look great.
A couple tricky things I did in this project. One, I used a fishing template I found at a online fishing magazine. To get the slideshow in the top part area of the template took me hours...ok...days to figure out. By trial and error I finally got it!
Another feat was that I designed the website on a subdomain for the client to see, then I helped the client move the domain "sidewaysfishing.com" from their old host over to GoDaddy, where I was able to forward the nameserver to my webhost, then I moved the WordPress site I had made on the test subdomain over to the domain.
And it all worked!
Technical stuff, I know. I felt a huge sense of accomplishment. I now know that I can successfully walk other clients through this tricky process.
Anyway, my prices are low and I work hard to make the website exactly how the client wants it. I also maintain the website for you. Check out my portfolio:
http://givemeastory.com/portfolio/
If you need a website, please send me an email twittren@outlook.com with details of what you need. I will let you know what I can do for you and give you a bid.
Help me expand my portfolio.
;)
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Radical love hits Child Welfare offices
Steve Duin: A revolution in Portland's foster care | OregonLive.com
I work for Child Welfare. My day job. When I started with Child Welfare 23 years ago I knew as little about the agency as you probably do. My first job was typing up dictation and handwritten notes from caseworkers. I quickly learned the ugly truth that bad things are happening not just to kids across the country or Wacross town. It can happen to kids anywhere.
I moved up from typist to Title IV-E eligibility worker. IV-E is a stream of federal funding that covers a large portion of the costs associated with kids in foster care. I spend my days reading case notes, narratives, court orders and financial screens to piece together IV-E determinations.
Caseworkers have the tough job. They work hard to make sure kids are safe. The hope is always to get enough services in place that kids can go back home. When that cannot happen the best, safe, alternative is found.
Some days workers return from court sad. Their careful planning overruled by a judge.
What these churches did to transform our waiting rooms into more of a family room shows that they realize that kids and families going through trauma are not just an agency's responsibility, but the community's as well.
Even further, the kindness these churches showed our workers by turning our lounges to places of comfort goes beyond reason, down to the washing of feet if you will. For an agency where bad news can be a front page story in a flash, and good news can be few and far between, with very little notice - this kind of love is, well, radical!
Thank you...
;)
I work for Child Welfare. My day job. When I started with Child Welfare 23 years ago I knew as little about the agency as you probably do. My first job was typing up dictation and handwritten notes from caseworkers. I quickly learned the ugly truth that bad things are happening not just to kids across the country or Wacross town. It can happen to kids anywhere.
I moved up from typist to Title IV-E eligibility worker. IV-E is a stream of federal funding that covers a large portion of the costs associated with kids in foster care. I spend my days reading case notes, narratives, court orders and financial screens to piece together IV-E determinations.
Caseworkers have the tough job. They work hard to make sure kids are safe. The hope is always to get enough services in place that kids can go back home. When that cannot happen the best, safe, alternative is found.
Some days workers return from court sad. Their careful planning overruled by a judge.
What these churches did to transform our waiting rooms into more of a family room shows that they realize that kids and families going through trauma are not just an agency's responsibility, but the community's as well.
Even further, the kindness these churches showed our workers by turning our lounges to places of comfort goes beyond reason, down to the washing of feet if you will. For an agency where bad news can be a front page story in a flash, and good news can be few and far between, with very little notice - this kind of love is, well, radical!
Thank you...
;)
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Our Big Ass van!
Yes, I said the "A" word. We sang the word in a hymn this morning, "What Child is This"...so it is a churchy word...
Pastor Roger gave a fine sermon today. Questioning and listening...talking about the only episode in Scripture that is recorded about Jesus between the time He was an infant to when He began His three year ministry.
Roger turns 66 today. We sang "Happy Birthday" to him. Roger is a radical follower of Jesus, very much a modern day prophet. I am sure, back in the day, he would say to never trust anyone over 30. I wonder, now is it over 70...or 75? ;) I'm sure Roger will let me know.
The early service at our church is usually the contemporary service. We have two praise teams that switch off and sing the songs you hear on the contemporary Christian radio stations.
Today we had no praise teams. We had Katie, our wonderful pianist from the second service, and classic hymns on the overhead screen.
Yours truly ran the slides from the computer today. Sitting in the back, I like to watch the people. It's fun to see who is engaged...and who is not...during the service.
Today, I found the hymns to be a refreshing change. I am 48...almost...never mind. Some of the people and families younger than me did not seem to be enjoying the hymns, whereas the people older than me thought they were great.
My two cents - why not mix the music to give the young some of what they want, and the older set some of what they want. We are family...give and take for the good of all...but what do I know?
On my way out of the church, I overheard a couple ladies talking. They were saying "Now that was a good service...that is how they should all be!"
"Okay..." I thought.
Then, the one lady saw our Sprinter van and started to freak out. "What's that van doing parked there!"
I was kind of amused. We have had the van over five years now...and driving it to church every Sunday. Most people have seen me load and unload Jodie. Evidently this lady has not. I couldn't figure out why this lady was freaking out over it.
So our van is blessed with a large behind. How does that affect this lady?
I love our big ass van...;)
Pastor Roger gave a fine sermon today. Questioning and listening...talking about the only episode in Scripture that is recorded about Jesus between the time He was an infant to when He began His three year ministry.
Roger turns 66 today. We sang "Happy Birthday" to him. Roger is a radical follower of Jesus, very much a modern day prophet. I am sure, back in the day, he would say to never trust anyone over 30. I wonder, now is it over 70...or 75? ;) I'm sure Roger will let me know.
The early service at our church is usually the contemporary service. We have two praise teams that switch off and sing the songs you hear on the contemporary Christian radio stations.
Today we had no praise teams. We had Katie, our wonderful pianist from the second service, and classic hymns on the overhead screen.
Yours truly ran the slides from the computer today. Sitting in the back, I like to watch the people. It's fun to see who is engaged...and who is not...during the service.
Today, I found the hymns to be a refreshing change. I am 48...almost...never mind. Some of the people and families younger than me did not seem to be enjoying the hymns, whereas the people older than me thought they were great.
My two cents - why not mix the music to give the young some of what they want, and the older set some of what they want. We are family...give and take for the good of all...but what do I know?
On my way out of the church, I overheard a couple ladies talking. They were saying "Now that was a good service...that is how they should all be!"
"Okay..." I thought.
Then, the one lady saw our Sprinter van and started to freak out. "What's that van doing parked there!"
I was kind of amused. We have had the van over five years now...and driving it to church every Sunday. Most people have seen me load and unload Jodie. Evidently this lady has not. I couldn't figure out why this lady was freaking out over it.
So our van is blessed with a large behind. How does that affect this lady?
I love our big ass van...;)
"Race is the stupidest idea in history"
Leonard Pitts is my favorite columnist. He never shies away from difficult topics. He smashes into them, head on, and brings forth commonsense and clarity.
There is no difference between the races, except for the the junk in our heads...and there is a lot of junk in our heads!
I have often thought of racism and disablism as being very similar. We start categorizing people the moment we meet them.
The color of my skin or your skin...yes, there is junk in my head, and in your head, that goes with that. The way I, or you, walk and talk, there is junk in my head and yours that goes with that as well.
Leonard does a great job analyzing some of this junk.
"Race is the stupidest idea in history. It is also, arguably, the most powerful. It determines who goes to jail and who goes to college, who gets loans and who gets rejections, who gets the job and who gets the unemployment check. It determines the life you live and the assumptions that are made about you."
- Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/12/29/v-fullstory/3159373/leonard-pitts-race-is-the-stupidest.html#storylink=cpy
There is no difference between the races, except for the the junk in our heads...and there is a lot of junk in our heads!
I have often thought of racism and disablism as being very similar. We start categorizing people the moment we meet them.
The color of my skin or your skin...yes, there is junk in my head, and in your head, that goes with that. The way I, or you, walk and talk, there is junk in my head and yours that goes with that as well.
Leonard does a great job analyzing some of this junk.
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