bountifulplate

Two weeks ago, I helped host a Special Needs Holiday Party.  I had Santa and Nana Claus lined up to make their appearance about 3 p.m. I had told Dominic that they were coming ahead of time, but since I have never taken him in the past to see them, I was a little apprehensive how he would act.  I took Lauren to see Santa a handful of times when she was little, but I guess I thought that Dominic wouldn't be able to handle it, so I never even attempted it. When Santa and Nana arrived, I went over to them and introduced myself because I had never met them in person, we had only corresponded by e-mail. They were so sweet and were circulating around the tables talking to everybody. When Dominic saw them, he decided to get as far as he could away from them. We had a large group and there were many that wanted to sit on Santa's lap. I was busy taking pictures and every so often, I would look over and Dominic was still on the other side of the room. I explained to Santa ...

Back at least two months ago, my dad asked me a question. He LOVES history and as much as he's tried to get me interested, I'm just NOT . He has been at his assisted living facility back in Maryland for a while now. It's been hard on him at times, because he moved out of the family home where he had lived for several decades. Anyways, you're probably wondering what the question was, right?? Well, he asked me something like, "something very important happened on December 7th, it's Pearl Harbor Day." He went on to say that he was thinking of giving a talk to the other residents about that day. This would involve him going to the activities coordinator and getting him on the monthly "schedule." He asked me my opinion of what he wanted to do. Without hesitation, I said, " YOLO ." He asked me what that meant. I told him "you only live once!" My dad and I have had lots of talks this year about the stroke he had a f...