Vocabulary Exercise (Part 2)

More vocabulary words from Mom's spring 1994 writing class. I find these interesting because Mom explains where she hears the words, giving a look into her day.


The photo is of Mom and Dad in 2006 on a boat ride near me on Lake George in Upstate New York.

11. Coalition
The word "coalition" has begun showing up in a lot of news writing. It seems to be in connection with groups of people. It almost seems like it could be groups of groups brought together to share ideas. Webster's says a body formed by coalescing, distinct elements combination, temporary alliance a purpose.

12. Ambivalent
I came across this word in reading an article in the Ligaurian. It was about violence and our prison system; about a sister visiting inmates on death row. It talks about the attitude (I think) of the prison in the ambivalent prison personal victims on both sides of the "chair." The Webster says "simultaneous and contradictory attitude or feelings as attractions and  repulsion towards an object, person, or action."

13. Myopia
I encountered this word in response to a letter to the editor. "Unfortunately the article contains a too-widely-held American Catholic myopia concerning our capitalist system." This sounds to me to be a sort of tunnel vision. The dictionary is the lack of foresight or discernment, a narrow view of something.

14. Condescending
This word has been used a lot here and denotes to me an attitude. When grace and spiritual friendship is absent or unknown, they may deny intimacy needs altogether becoming instead cynical, sarcastic and condescending. Webster: To descend to a less formal or dignified level, unbend, to wave the privilege of rank to assume superiority.

15. Virile
We encounter this word many times when a man is trying to show what a big man he is. I came across it again in an article on man's spirituality. The Latin word for strength in man is a virtue from the work. Vir, which means man and from this we get virile and virility. I wasn't sure if these words do indeed mean strength. Webster says that it means having the nature properties or qualities of an adult male.

26. Lethargy
I encountered this work regarding a patient at the hospital. It referred to a patient in a state of lethargy. I took it to mean that the patient was depressed and not caring much in his condition. In the dictionary, it says that it is a state of apathy or indifference, abnormal drowsiness, sluggish.
His illness left him in a state of lethargy.

27. Stagnant
This word was used in conjunction with the elderly. It referred to the seniors' lives as stagnant. To me this seemed to mean that their lives seemed to be in a state of stillness. Nothing of significance going on in their lives. They are going nowhere. Much like a pond of water that is stagnant because it doesn't flow anywhere.
The dictionary says to vegetate, going nowhere.
The nursing home residents had no recreation program to keep them busy, they just sat stagnant.

28. Plagiarize
This word has been seen many times in instruction with this comp class and with speech class. To me, it means not to use another's ideas and not to give them credit. Trying to claim their ideas as your own.
The dictionary says to appropriate and claim as one's own the literary work of another. Present as new material that has been presented before.
The young writer needed a poem to hand in for an assignment, took a poem out of a book and plagiarized by signing his name on it and handing it to the teacher.

29. Ligament
This word was also used at the hospital when referring to parts of your body. Something to the effect that a ligament holds the knee together. When we cut up a chicken or turkey we can see the ligaments joining the bones. Dictionary rough band of tissue which connect articular extremities of bones or supporting organ in place.
The athlete had a torn ligament in her ankle after she fell during the game.

30. Amazon
I saw this word in a magazine describing a big sexy girl. In some cases, the description may be derogatory or not complimentary.
The dictionary says feminine, alluring, big - a member of a race of female warrior.
The model appeared to be an amazon modeling her swimsuit.

Vocabulary Excercise (Part 1)

 These are parts of a vocabulary assignment from Mom's spring 1994 writing class. It appears to be essentially finding vocabulary words in daily life and finding their definitions. A few are kind of interesting, including the first, Bovine, where apparently I was the inspiration for the entry.

The photo is of Mom on a 2006 visit to New York. It's from a boat trip on Lake George.

21. Bovine
This word came up in a casual conversation at dinner one night. My son must have read something in the cartoons. He said, "What does bovine mean?" I sat a minute and couldn't come up with a meaning out of my head. "Why do you want to know?" I said. In the commercial, it said someone was showing bovine tendencies. I guessed it had something to do with a cow, but I don't really know why. So we looked it up. Bovine - relating to a cow, characteristics of oxen or cows. The girl was heavy-set and acting like a bovine.

22. Liberalism
This word is talked about a lot now in politics. I'm never sure which side it is on. To me, being liberal is someone who is easy and has very slack rules. The dictionary says that to be liberal where the government is concerned is to be very open to change.

He was elected because of his liberalistic attitude for the country.

23. Altruist
This word is bandied about when you are talking about good points of someone. Like Mother Teresa, perhaps, always thinking about the other person, never about herself. This person is rare. The dictionary says it is actions that may not benefit oneself, but ultimately benefits the species. Mother Teresa is an altruist.

24. Pendant
This word showed up on TV in conjunction with a party. This person was trying to show off by knowing it all and correcting everyone else's comments was called a pendant. The dicionary says this individual is one who parades his learning and is picky about someone else's learning. John is a pendant as he is so critical of Mary and her education.

16. Extrapolate
I came across this word at work when someone was talking about data from the computer. He said that he was going to extrapolate data. I assumed that it meant that we take out the data from the computer.
The dictionary has several meetings. Values of variable in an unobserved interval from values. To project and extend or expand known data or experience.

17. Trepidation - came across this word in a film. This gentleman in a wheelchair was talking about being interviewed and that the interviewer had some trepidation in interviewing a man in a wheelchair. I took it to mean that he was nervous and anxious.
The dictionary says that it means tremors uncertain agitation apprehension

18. Vulnerable - Despite our mechanism of power, we are human and vulnerable. I get this word to mean that we are weak and can be hurt easily. We are wide open to any kind of criticism.
The dictionary says, Capable of being physically wounded - open to attack or damage. I don't feel this has to be physical. It can also be emotional or mental.

19. Paradox
Thomas Merton was a Paradox: A hermit who loved people, a gifted scholar in search of a wisdom beyond knowledge. He struggled for freedom, but refused to compromise his vow of obedience. To me, this means that he was two-sided or two-dimensional.

The dictionary says that is contradictory. Such as always taking the opposite opinion of the one speaking.

20. Proselytize
"I'd have a hard time believing in him, too. It would certainly be a first if a Jehovah's Witness did not proselytize family members." This was taken from an editorial in the December issue of the Liguorian. I take it to mean that the elders take some sort of advantage of the younger member, especially the women.

The dictionary says it is the process of trying to convert someone to your faith or religion or party, etc.

Devil's Advocate: Separate But Equal: Mainstreaming

This is Mom's Devil's Advocate paper referenced in her 1994 class paper proposal. It's interesting because the requirement of the paper is to take the opposite position of a topic that was very important to Mom. 

I'm not sure if it was intentional or not, but a tip off to Mom's heart not being in this opposite position is her title, "Separate But Equal," a title that itself has some pretty bad connotations.

The photo is of Mom's 6th grade class, in her hometown school. Mom appears to be circled, second row up, far right.

Disabled children have their special schools. They have their special teachers who are trained to work with them. These special teachers are educated in all facets of working with disabled students. Most of these students wouldn't be able to survive in 'real' school. So what is the big problem? What is this Mainstreaming anyway?

Mainstreaming began with the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, commonly referred to as Section 504; but it wasn't until 1977 that it became a common practice in the Iowa City School District as a means to place a disabled student in a regular classroom. Most of these students are able to manage in this classroom setting, with minimal assistance from others. Full mainstreaming, or inclusion, means that all disabled students are placed in the classroom and a special education teacher will stop into the classroom and attend to the child's needs. The goal is to place these children in the Least Restrictive Environment, or LRE.

According to Albert Shanker, President of the American Federation of Teachers, "Inclusion is Ideology. As a result of this LRE, there are a lot of "medically fragile" children being placed in these classrooms with little or no training in the care of any of these types of disabilities. Just one of these students could use one-on-one care and attention. Then what happens to the rest of the class? How much do they lose from the teacher's attention? Now, given the scenario of a severe behavior problem child, how do you handle the child who kicks and scratches the other children? Or a child who moans or cries all during the class. How much education are they getting? How much education are the other children getting? Unless there is someone in the classroom all the time for that student, that teacher cannot fulfill her duty to the other students.

"Schools are to be performing three basic functions," according to Mr. Shanker, "which are: imparting knowledge and skills; preparing students for the working world; and helping them become good citizens and develop socially. Those demanding full inclusion are only interested in socialization." This is not why taxpayers support the schools. Do you really want the subject your child to this kind of education?

The experts say that the disabled child will perform his/her maximum when they are able to copy for a normal child. Isn't the reverse also true that if the normal child is around the disabled child, will they not copy a little retarded, or worse yet, imitate the child unwittingly or cruelly intentionally.

The 'real' school has stairs and long hallways. They have books to carry and tests to study for. In order for the disabled student to survive in this environment, there has to be some changes made - some very expensive changes. Maybe this is a case of only the strong will survive.

Who should foot the bill for all these changes, and why should we subject our children to this? They have to sit side by side with this disabled student, some of them very severely disabled. Why should we slow down the progress of the rest of the class because of one slow student.

Let's take a look at how expensive this could be. We have a school building built in the sixties. There are two stories. Water fountains are high, restrooms are small in order to accommodate many stalls. Children, even small children in grade schools, must move from room to room between classes. By law, everyone must attend Physical Education class of some sort.

Now, you have a child in a wheelchair - A very bright child. By following her brothers and sisters she has already learned to read. It would be much better for you to send the child to a special school. There, she could get all the individual help she needs. There are therapists there who can aid in your child's physical development. She won't be embarrassed to run her wheelchair down the hall as there will be lots of kids there who are "different."

Federal Law, The Americans With Disabilities Act, effective in 1992, now, that all public buildings, including schools, must accommodate these children. Here is a price tag on just some remodeling that has to be done to the existing building. An elevator would have to be installed. This could cost somewhere between 20 and 50 thousand dollars. The water fountains, telephone booths will need to be lowered. This cost would vary with the institution. If the school is very old, the doorways may need to be widened, both to the classrooms and to the restrooms. The restrooms themselves will need a total remodeling job. Many of them have real small stalls to make room for as many stalls as possible. Now there will have to be at least one big one with a railing grab bar. The sinks will need some attention, along with the paper towel racks, etc. The list goes on.

If the child is severely disabled, an attendant will need to be hired by the school district to aid this child. The teacher, however, will still be the central figure in this. Many of the teachers are not equipped educationally for this type of student, much less be able to handle the other students in relationship to the severely disabled child. These teachers are still from the era when these types of children were hidden so they are not emotionally able to help.

The advantages to keeping the severely disabled separate but equal are many. The children will be able to learn at their own pace, with all the special equipment they need. As a result, they will not slow down the learning of the other students. It is really hard for the normal student to relate to the severely disabled student. They feel uncomfortable and do not know what to say or do to that student. The disabled student also feels this uncomfortableness and doesn't know how to handle it. All the expense is centered on one area. One classroom which can be located on the ground level and with one bathroom. If the cafeteria is out of reach, then the meals can be brought in. All very compact. Then all that money can be used on other things.

In summary, we need more data before full inclusion is forced to be adopted everywhere.

Connie, Feb. 20, 1994

From Dependence to Independence Proposal

This appears to be the proposal for Mom's 1994 paper From Dependence to Independence. I like the third paragraph, where Mom talks about the help her siblings gave her in school, and how she likely couldn't have done it without them.

The photo is of Mom, third from the left, at her eighth grade graduation at the crippled children's school in Sioux Falls. She only attended there for one year. The photo is also from a great photo album I found on my recent trip home, an album Dad had.

I have chosen to write my research paper on educating the disabled then and now. Rather than using techniques in teaching, I would like to focus on the physical aspect, for instance with kids perfectly able to learn, but unable to get into the building. This can be due to physical access, steps, wider doors, place to sit, furniture unsafe, etc., or due to textbooks that a blind person can't read or the extra help needed for a deaf or hard of hearing student. I believe I can go back to the early 1900s when no one bothered to educate these kids. Then it was a curse to have one and they were hidden from the public either in their home, or in an institution.

If a family could afford it, a private tutor could be hired and progress seen, as in the well-known case of Helen Keller. So often this kind of thing was never attempted. If you had any of these handicapped listed above, you automatically couldn't see, hear, or talk either, much less have a brain and be able to think. All of these assumptions are untrue, of course, as have been proven time and time again with the proper education.

I was born in the early 1940s and people didn't know what to do then. I came at the bottom of a large family. There weren't any organizations for us to turn to. My parents never considered anything but sending me to school. With my brothers' and sisters' help, I went to school. I'm not sure how much, if anything, went into the decision to send me to school. I'm sure that I was not expected to accomplish a lot. The physical barriers were countless. They began at the front door and countless steps. Everywhere there were steps. There were two flights just to use the bathrooms, one flight to get to the classrooms. The walking to and from the playground took many minutes. Without my brothers and sisters, I would not have made it. Along this line, I would like to interview some of my sisters about those early decisions. I would like to know if the school had any objections to my attending school. I don't think any of the teachers are around anymore. I do have contact with some of my classmates and wonder if it was discussed in any of their families. I never got the feeling that I was not wanted in school.

I had a brother who was born deaf and attended a school for the deaf in a nearby town. There wasn't a handicapped school until I was in late grade school. I did attend this school following a surgery for one year. I wasn't walking yet, so I couldn't handle the stairs. With the schools now, I probably could have handled it.

I personally was extremely disappointed with the academics of this school for that year. I can't say that I learned a lot of academics. I did learn a lot about people and was more appreciative of my home.

After that year, I returned again to my local school for high school. Here, of course, I was challenged along with the rest of my classmates. This was a small school, so perhaps it was easier.

After graduation, however, I think my parents let down. They were not real big on higher education and the benefits of it. I do feel that all of the kids should have been forced to go to college or trade school. I did return after about 10 years. At this point, my choices were a little different. That is a whole other story.

The emphasis has shifted greatly between when I started school, where not much was expected. Indeed, the thoughts generally were that we couldn't learn much. Then the start of special schools, where educators were saying it is best to keep the handicapped kids separate so they won't slow everyone down. The pendulum has now turned. With the modern use of "mainstreaming" these kids are now back in the classroom whenever possible. They not only can keep up academically, but many times they are a very good influence on the rest of the kids. With many of the physical barriers now being corrected, many of these kids get along quite well on their own.

On the devil's advocate paper, I could present perhaps the expense of re-doing all these buildings with ramps, putting in elevators, etc. Also the extra effort and expense of attendants and getting kids to and from school. Required also are readers for blind students and interpreters for the deaf, and attendants for the more severely handicapped. All of this is now paid for by your school district.

There are those who say spending all this money on these students is jeopardizing the monies for their own students. They could also say that these students are distracting to the other students and prohibiting them from learning.

There are those who believe that these students should be separated to promote learning for both groups. The handicapped group can't possibly measure up so to speak with the physically able student.

I intend to prove, however, that everything I just stated on this advocate paper is just the reverse, that  this student is not a detriment, but an asset and a good future investment. To make every individual a tax payer, rather than a tax drain. Education is certainly the key to all of this.

Vocational training is used in most communities to train the handicapped to a specific job or task. Higher education is still not done very often. It still remains very difficult for anyone to get a job in an executive position, even with the proper education, or in some cases more than the proper education. This will take educating the public.

Connie, Jan. 22, 1994

We All Need to Communicate

This is a paper Mom wrote in 1993, I believe for one of her speech classes. It's more of a concept paper, rather than a details one, talking about the kinds of communication and how they can be used.

It's also hand-written, but Mom's handwriting was always pretty good and I think I got most of it. The photo is of Mom in June 2010 at the Saratoga National Battlefield Visitor's Center in Saratoga County, NY.

I. We all need to communicate. As a child, we learned to communicate with our parents by asking for things so our basic needs could be fulfilled, ex. "Potty," "Mommy," "Daddy, "eat," etc. The skills were pretty basic. As an adult, the learning years can be humorous.

As we grow older, our communication becomes more important and expanded. We get to intrapersonal communication, how we communicate with yourself. This is important as it helps improve your self esteem. How we view our self tells us how we view others.

We also learn how to communicate with others. Dyadic communication is with two people. When we are younger, this could be with a friend, with your mother or a sister. Again, as we get older, we expand our horizons and we have a Dyadic communication with a teacher, a boss, a husband, etc.

With everyone, we must learn to effectively communicate. We must learn to get our point across. Effective communication is when both parties equally participate. It cannot be all one-sided. The all "I" syndrome.

The physical communication is using verbal gestures to get the message across. Some people cannot speak without these.

The spoken word or gesture is sent out on adapters and conveyed to the listener.

Interpersonal communication, two or more people are conveying with each other. Communication with husband and wife, I would see as interpersonal.

Impersonal is a non-caring communication. We convey the ideas, but don't really care whether the ideas are excepted or not. If this communication continues, we may lose what we meant to say. Soon, no one will take you seriously and you will have no audience.

When you are trying to get a message across, you need to hear the message and speak enthusiastically about the message. If you don't like the message, then you will not communicate it well.

A family, for instance, will be a lot happier if they can, as a group, communicate better. Everyone needs the feedback, which you get from communicating well. ex. You asked your teenager to clean her room and later you find it still a mess, then you were not effective. But if you were specific, i.e. pick up your clothes, put the garbage away, make your bed. These are specific instructions and could result in other communication and a cleaner room.

II. Some of the ways I influence such a concept in others is, first of all, by communicating to them. I, first of all, must listen to them and when I speak to them, I refer to something they may have said. I try to remember their name and use it. I use a tone of voice that is encouraging and not too "cheery" or over-whelming."

My significant other, be it a husband, friend or teacher, boss, can greatly influence your mood by how they communicate with you.

We have all gone to work feeling great, only to be confronted at work by a surly boss who got up on the wrong side of the bed. It is very difficult to overcome this type of influence. Sometimes it is a matter of continuing to "beef up" your own behaviors and self concept. Maybe you just need to stop for a minute and walk away, if you can. If this happens often, we may need to prepare better our own communication.

We may need to say "I know me and I feel good today," then prepare a compliment for that significant other. "Gosh, sir, you just did a good job with that report. It is surprising sometimes how you can turn a "grouch" around with a few well-chosen words. The same can be said for receiving these words, if you are the surly one.

Sometimes, a very shy "wall flower" can be brought open by some wonderful remarks by a significant other and improve their self-concept or self-esteem.

How well a person performs depends on their self-esteem. We must think well of ourselves before we can think well of others. We need to know how others see us. Sometimes this communication can come in the form of a letter or a card. Something to say I care about you and you are important. We have to care first about ourselves. We can't be impersonal. We have to spread our self-concept.

With the significant other, we need to be self-confident enough to convey this self-concept to them. If you live or work with a person who is constantly tearing you down, your self-concept will be shot very quickly. If they are insulting you want to insult back. If they are to gossip, you want to gossip back. It may take a strong character and strong self-concept on your part to break this cycle. You need to begin to resist this temptation.

If you start complimenting little things, then bigger things, maybe the influence will soon be felt. Then if this doesn't change behavior, then maybe you need to break yourself away from this concept and improve your own self-esteem. Maybe he/she will not improve with you, so you need to improve yourself. Self-concepts or self-esteem is very important in human behavior. No matter what or where we go in life, how you perceive yourself may be how others perceive you.

Connie, Oct. 14, 1993

Recite It to the Cat

This is an account Mom wrote for a class in 1993, about preparing for a speech. In it, she goes through all the steps she went through to put a speech together for a class and then give it.

One of those steps, Mom wrote, was recite it to the cat. The photo is of Mom in 2001 in her sewing room with Pepe.

When a speech topic is given, I need to turn it over and over in my mind. Before I select a topic, I try to visualize how different topics will work. Sometimes I'm on the road driving to work and suddenly the right combination of ideas start to take shape. The topic appears from several different angles, and think about which of the angles could be worked on and information pursued.

Now I decide what information I need and where to get it. Sometimes this is the hardest part for me. I don't like running around, and driving downtown is dangerous for me. Wondering around a library can be very time-consuming to me, especially when I don't know where anything is and when I do find it, it is usually out of reach. Because of my problems with the library, I try to stick to a lot of topics that I already know, so I can zero in on the books that I want to check on. I gather too much information so I can pick and choose. By combining the things I already know with the bits and pieces which I gathered from books and magazines, I now get myself organized.

I sort all the information either in my mind going to work or if I have actual pieces of paper then I put them into piles. I read and assemble the information. Suddenly I seem to have a beginning. That is very important as the very beginning sets the tone for the entire speech. A good beginning can make someone sit up and take notice, or fall asleep. Just stop and listen to the other speakers. Try and guess the speech content from the beginning. A good beginning could go in several directions, and not until you are further in do you actually see where the speech is going.

I pencil out a rough draft. This is so I can see the direction that it will take. Usually this flows out quite fast. Somehow when you know what you want to say and the point you want to get across, or in other words, the intention of the speech. If all you are looking for is a grade, then your heart is not in it. You will not give a good speech. Many times you have a "mission" or a cause that you particularly are fond of that may lend itself to your speech, this could give the added dimension of excitement and interest in your tone of voice. Remember this when choosing your topic. Also this helps you when it comes to actually reciting the speech. If you are familiar with the topic, it is easier to look at the audience while speaking.

Now that I have myself organized and written out, I recite it aloud. Here is where all the flaws are discovered. Nothing like reading something out loud and finding that it doesn't make any sense. Back to the drawing board and try to make it make sense. This may mean cutting and editing. You may also need to recite it to someone else. When no one else is around, recite it to the cat. Just don't take offense if the cat gets up and walks away. After going over it several times, you may want to time it to see where you need to polish it. Now take some notes from your written copy. Think of these notes as jump starts. This is your organization. You want to keep it in some sort of order. This will help. Now take these notes and try your speech again. Refine your notes. Put them on cards, just a few notes to a card so you can just glance at the card and remember what you are to say.

Never, never, never memorize the speech. It will sound memorized to the audience and just as boring. Pretend that all these people are sitting in your living room and you are telling them about your favorite topic.

I use the note cards and recite the speech aloud again. Try a different animal this time. See if he will listen better, knowing that not all your audience will listen either. Look at the audience as much as possible. Wow, I think I have it down. Each time I rehearse it, it is different. Guess that means it hasn't been memorized. Never seems to come out the same twice. Maybe that is the way it is supposed to be. I sure hope that something comes out tomorrow.

On the day of the speech, I go through a certain ritual, where something that is very comfortable and also I feel good in. For instance, a suit I like and I think it looks good on me. I also try to get my hair to look good. After all, you can't look good unless you feel good. I could never give a speech in a sloppy pair of blue jeans, for instance. When everyone is looking at me, I have to feel good about how I look.

The time comes for me to get up. I take a deep breath and walk to the podium. I need the podium to physically lean on. Suddenly, all my rehearsals go out the window and I speak from memory. Again it doesn't exactly come out the way I had planned. My throat tightens up but I keep speaking glancing on my notes, knowing that I'm not following them. I'm not sure if I'm making sense or not. The speech is over and I return to my place. There is applause, so maybe I got through to someone. Another speech over.

Connie, Oct. 4, 1993

A Random Act of Kindness

This is an account Mom wrote about a time she fell and the man who stopped to help her get up. It's a situation Mom sometimes found herself in and I sometimes find myself in.

In her story, Mom points out that the man stopped to listen to what help she needed, rather than assuming the best way to get her back up.

The photo is of Mom at a local science museum on a visit to see us in 2010.

As a handicapped individual, who is out in the world, I have benefited from many acts of kindness, by a variety of individuals. The latest happened just three months ago. I walk with crutches and full-length leg braces. I pulled my car into the parking lot behind LaJames College of Hairstyling. It was a beautiful day for the middle of February, after a very cold, snowy winter. I decided not to wear my coat, as it was only a short distance to the door. The sun had melted the snow on the sidewalk. I went on in to get my hair cut.

An hour later, I came out. It was now dark. Knowing that this section of sidewalk, which was wet earlier, would now be frozen, I slowed up walking when I saw the slick spot, but not soon enough. I fell face first on the slick cement. My bare hands scraped along the ice. I decided that I better get up before I was too cold to move. I could see no one around.

Suddenly a young black man came out of nowhere. "May I help you?" he said trying to grab me from behind.

"Wait, no!" I said, a little surprised.

"I won't hurt you," he said.

"No! Do what I tell you." He stopped to listen. "Now, hold your hands stiff so I can lean on them." I rolled over and used his hands to get up standing. He then picked up my crutches and my purse.

"Thanks," I said. "Now, if I can get to the car. It's parked right there."

"I can help you to the car," he replied.

"Now, just hold my hand steady and act like a railing," I requested. The young man did all these things exactly as I requested. After opening the car door, I got my things in and put my coat on. I thanked him very much. I got into the car. He kept asking me if I was OK. My finger was bleeding and I didn't want to get it all over, so I was moving carefully.

Suddenly, I looked up and he was gone. Just as quickly as he appeared. I couldn't see him on the sidewalk at all.

I sat in the car a minute trying to warm up and thinking about this kind gentleman. Most people try to grab me and try to actually pick me up, not listening to what I really need.

I thought about him all the way home; and wished I could have been able to thank him better. I don't even know who he is.

Connie, undated