As some of you know, I've been writing on the Internet since December of 2000.
And if you've been checking in and cursing my existence since those days, you have been treated to many a post that in part or total featured some or all of my five grandchildren. Many of you have met or know Gage, Taylor and Zach. Actually, during the Wilkes-Barre Online days, Gage had himself quite the following.
Avery, the youngest of the three brothers who reside right here in Wilkes-Barre, is now three-years-old, so he'll be setting off in search of adventure with Pop Pop as early as this Summer. Jeremy, the middle brother, is 5-years-old and he's a battle-tested veteran whereas Pop Pop's constant penchant for adventure is concerned. But he's rarely garnered a mention here because he's been dealing with speech apraxia since birth.
That said, his speaking skills have improved exponentially. Two years ago, I could barely follow a single word he tried to say. These days, I can carry on a conversation with him. He's been coached by visiting therapists, he's been poked and prodded by the folks at John Heinz, but none of that seemed to help. The real breakthrough occurred when he started getting bussed off to Head Start, or Pre-K, or whatever the heck they call that program.
Once he was forced to interact with other kids on a daily basis, he started talking more slowly, and most importantly, more clearly. As far as I'm concerned, his progress has been nothing short of remarkable. And a couple of days ago, he registered to attend kindergarten in the fall, something that I previously thought would not happen within the normally expected time frame.
His preschool classmates say he has the best sneakers in the place, and that he talks funny. The key point being...he talks.
Anyway, while those 535-plus two jackasses in Washington are looking to shave some of the obvious excess off of the gargantuan Fedrule budget, funding for things like speech therapy and preschool may seem to be unimportant in the grand scheme of largess things. But Jeremy is living proof that some little people somewhere out there in the vast wasteland that still somehow passes as America do indeed need help.
As for Jeremy, of my five grand kids, he might be the one that most closely resembles his sanity-deprived grandfather. As his daredevil bicycling capabilities clearly suggest, and as the emergency room folks at Geisinger can attest to, he is fearless bordering on reckless.
And the way I see things, fearlessness makes all things possible.
Later
And if you've been checking in and cursing my existence since those days, you have been treated to many a post that in part or total featured some or all of my five grandchildren. Many of you have met or know Gage, Taylor and Zach. Actually, during the Wilkes-Barre Online days, Gage had himself quite the following.
Avery, the youngest of the three brothers who reside right here in Wilkes-Barre, is now three-years-old, so he'll be setting off in search of adventure with Pop Pop as early as this Summer. Jeremy, the middle brother, is 5-years-old and he's a battle-tested veteran whereas Pop Pop's constant penchant for adventure is concerned. But he's rarely garnered a mention here because he's been dealing with speech apraxia since birth.
That said, his speaking skills have improved exponentially. Two years ago, I could barely follow a single word he tried to say. These days, I can carry on a conversation with him. He's been coached by visiting therapists, he's been poked and prodded by the folks at John Heinz, but none of that seemed to help. The real breakthrough occurred when he started getting bussed off to Head Start, or Pre-K, or whatever the heck they call that program.
Once he was forced to interact with other kids on a daily basis, he started talking more slowly, and most importantly, more clearly. As far as I'm concerned, his progress has been nothing short of remarkable. And a couple of days ago, he registered to attend kindergarten in the fall, something that I previously thought would not happen within the normally expected time frame.
His preschool classmates say he has the best sneakers in the place, and that he talks funny. The key point being...he talks.
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| Jeremy Nate, May 28, 2011 |
That said, I cannot justify cutting programs that can and do change lives while we continue to drop neutron bombs all over the world. Depleted uranium shells are a nice toy to have in the seemingly limitless arsenal, but I ain't seen many tank divisions being formed lately.
And judging by what I see on a very, very regular basis in the retail stores, young people with the latest clothes, the latest sneakers, the latest tattoos, the latest electronic gadgets and the latest body piercings all have the latest Access Cards.
You want to cut back? Start with the young, the able-bodied. There are still plenty of ditches that need to be dug, lawns that need to be mowed, burgers that need to be flipped and dirty dishes that need to be washed. Sorry, but the free ride of the fully capable needs to come to an abrupt halt.
As for Jeremy, of my five grand kids, he might be the one that most closely resembles his sanity-deprived grandfather. As his daredevil bicycling capabilities clearly suggest, and as the emergency room folks at Geisinger can attest to, he is fearless bordering on reckless.
And the way I see things, fearlessness makes all things possible.
Later
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