Lifetime Friends II

Christian the Lion was on the TODAY show again today. They had an interview with the two men, John Rendall and Ace Bourke. Again, they talked about the interaction between themselves and the lion.
In addition, they talked alittle bit about Christian's legacy, as they put it, the wildlife conservation that they are involved in now.

Click here to learn more.

It was a great interview. Plus learning how moved these two men are about the response they are getting more than 35 years later.

Such a moving story that I am obviously drawn to.

Also to all you nay sayers...I checked it out on snopes. True!

Saying Goodbye

Saying goodbye is never easy. Whether it is to a child as you go off to work, a sibling who is leaving to go back home which happens to be far away from you, or someone who you've known forever and grown up with that has passed on. Yesterday my big-brother-in-law's Mom passed away. She was a wonderful lady who always treated me and my sisters almost as her own kids.
We met her when I was still in high school, actually early high school, and she has been in our lives ever since. I posted this picture of Hammonassett Beach State Park here too because she LOVED being at the beach camping. Plus this is how I will always remember her. Her camper at the beach, smiling as she told Gordon and I how to park our camper on our site.
Another thing I will never forget is how she always signed cards "love, the "Elder" Dortenzios"...loved it!

Click here to read her obituary.

I will truly miss you Mrs. Dortenzio!

OT and the Small Things

So as many of you know I am an occupational therapist and I work with children with all kinds of special needs in the public school setting.

Being an OT is so much of who I am.

I am dedicated to my work and to the families who look to me for advice, treatment, and results for their children.

I think as OT's we do things that are seem very small or something we think are so basic, but are so huge for a child or a family.

So remembering to appreciate the little things is huge.

Remembering to look at how you change the world one small thing at a time is huge too. That way you appreciate all the other small things around you, and at the same time it encourages you to see all the cool things in life you do.

This post is based on some great advice I got from a wonderful OT. Thanks Lisa!

Lifetime Friends...

So, I saw this yesterday on another blog, then it was on the Today show this morning, so I wanted to share it with all of you. In case you haven't seen it...it is worth a watch. Christian the Lion on YouTube.

(of course I cried...)

Help!

Help!?!

Well, I have been inspired to help. "Help" is such a powerful word. How can we help each other, help the world around us, help ourselves, etc. etc. etc.
Gordon and I are invited to a wedding at the end of the summer and the couple has a gift registry at Macy's. Now that is not all that remarkable. Everyone has registries. But theirs is different. If we buy a gift off their registry, there is a donation made to a charity. WOW! Can I just say how impressed I was with that feature? The charity that they had chosen was Girls Inc.

I went to the website and it got me thinking about how I can help.

There is another campaign that I have given to and been inspired by, that I would love for you to check out too. It is the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty and Self Esteem Fund. Having a daughter of my own and knowing that there are so many beautiful women out there that don't believe they are beautiful. Dove has started these campaigns to help. I'm sure you've seen the commercials/videos. Check out "Onslaught". How can I help Charlotte truly believe in how beautiful she is?
Another charity I've been involved in, as most of you know, is March of Dimes. There are so many great charities out there, I can't possible list them all.
You don't have to give money or donations to help. You can donate time, a listening ear to a friend in need, a shoulder to cry on, a smile to a stranger on the street, and many more. I don't want this post to turn into a soapbox for charity. I just wanted to spark something in each of you reading this to reach out to someone in need.

As many of us know the economy is not doing so hot. I for one am feeling the pinch this year. Maybe it is because I was off on my maternity leave for four months, or maybe it is because I have chosen to take this summer off to be with Charlotte and Ian. Neither of these I would change, but it does make things alittle tighter around here.
So if I am feeling the pinch, I am sure charities and those in need are feeling it too.

So here it is. I am going to add some features to my blog that could offer help and search for other ways to help too. I have so many friends and family who have been helping me not only in the last month as I started this blog, but also through the many hardships I have faced so far in my life.

There are so many ways to help. How have you reached someone today?

A Rose

In loving memory of someone who always found inner strength and appreciated the small things.
Miss you Mrs. Fongemy!

Books, Books, Books!

A few weeks ago I took Charlotte and Ian to the town library. Charlotte LOVES books. From the time she could speak, one of her favorite sentences was "Read da book". We decided that this was a hobby that we wanted to foster in her. She can't get enough reading. She will ask us to read and re-read the same book so many times that she memorizes it and then "reads" it to her dolls. This is actually how I found her bed this morning when she got up:

Yup! She even has to sleep with her books. It was too cute that I had to take a picture. Her big girl bed used to be filled with stuffed animals and such, now books are there instead. At night, after she is in bed, we can hear her reciting (her form of reading) the books to Darla, who is her favorite baby doll.
So we went to the library and she got her first library card. We took out three books, one of which was a huge hit. I'm sure many of you have heard of it, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, by Laura Joffe Numeroff.
To learn more click here.
She loved it so much, that when we went back this week, we took out If You Give a Pig a Pancake, also by Laura Joffe Numeroff. I think we will have to get them all eventually. Every time we finish this one, she says "next time we have to find the Moose one". There is a picture of it at the end of this book. It's called If You Give a Moose a Muffin. I want to get this one too. :)

Here's my small thing from that trip to the library...
Charlotte made a friend when we were there!! As some of you know, Charlotte is so quiet in new situations. When she gets comfortable, she opens up to the talkative little girl that Gordon and I know. Anyway, another little girl was at the library too. She went up to Charlotte and asked her her name. I cringed because I thought "oh no, she isn't going to answer and the little girl will move on". To my absolute delight I heard her respond "Charlotte". The little girl continued on and asked how old she was..."Two" she replied with a smile.
As the tears rolled down my face (no surprise here), the two were off playing together in the library playroom.
One small thing that made me smile!