The Miller Menagerie

Finally ,the San Francisco Trip Post! I’ve been emotionally processing the last the few months events, the potential events of the next few months, and life, in general. I think I’ve got my mind wrapped around the whirlwind of activity that our family experienced last month. It only took 5 weeks!

On May 3rd, our church said good-bye to our rector and his family. We’ve enjoyed the McGraths’ company these last 2.5 years, and wish them so much happiness in their future vocation/occupation of service in the US military.

We were blessed that we could spend a few more days with them at our diocesan synod. This really helped ease the kids through their parting of ways. This gave them the chance to have their playmates all to themselves, without sharing them with the rest of the church that also wanted to wish them, “Godspeed”.

We were in Oakland (well, actually Lafayette park) May 6-9 for our diocesan synod. It was so good for our souls. Drew and I had been feeling pretty blue about our vocations, and lack of fulfillment of said vocations, and we knew if we went to synod, we’d be blessed and rejuvenated.

And, we were! We spent time with folks we dearly love. We got to hear all sorts of spiritually invigoration. We were able to spend time with other folks whose faith is not just a weekly affair, it’s a vocation!

The kids spent time with their buddies here and there, and got to spend some time with some older kids that they love. We ate some tasty food from the hotel’s restaurant, and Drew treated me to a 45 minute massage at the hotel’s spa (mostly because I needed it, and he knew I would never spend the money, so he just scheduled it and told me I HAD to go.)

After the pontifical mass at St. Peter’s Oakland, we ate a very tasty brunch, downstairs in their parish hall. What a beautiful church they have there! Coming from St. Agatha’s, I do miss the historic buildings that a lot of Continuing Anglicans have had to leave behind, so even the architechture fed my spirit!

After brunch, we drove into San Francisco and drove over the Golden Gate Bridge. After crossing (northbound) there is a lookout, where you can see Alcatraz! There, we took a quick family photo with the bridge in the background. This was a fun side trip. This was only my 5th time in California (the first being synod 2007 in Napa), and this was the furthest south into CA that I have ever been, and my first time to San Francisco, so I had to take a picture chronicling that!

Upon returning in the wee hours of Monday morning, we settled into bed quickly because it was back to the grindstone. That Monday commenced the last week of newt’s therapy in the South King early Intervention Program (SKIP). This meant that just 5 days after saying goodbye to his only friends, the McGraths, he had to say goodbye to the acquaintances he made in the therapy center’s playgroups.

Also, his therapeutic work will transition to the school district, although, we did have him transferred to CTC, the program at the therapy center that offers services to children older than 3. He will eventually receive speech therapy through CTC (he’s on the wait list), and was receiving therapy from Vickie, who had been providing occupational therapy to Newt since last Fall. It was Vickie who introduced us to the PECS, and he has done so well with their use!

I really wanted to go through those 5 days as tuned-in to Newt, as a family can be. If he did notice the change, I wanted to make sure that we didn’t brush off his reaction to it, and force him to acclimate too quickly to “the new normal”. Our efforts seemed to have paid off as he wasn’t thrown off by the different routines after turning 3. He does seem to notice that his therapists are saying hello to him at the center, but not playing with him, but he’s only gotten upset about that once (this last week, when he was introduced to a new occupational therapist who will be providing services, instead of Vickie-more on that later in “part 2″.)

He and Rudy do seem to notice the church nursery being quieter, and I do not take him into the younger kids’ class anymore. I took him two Sundays after Mary started attending, because he noticed that he was alone in the nursery while she was in class. When we were invited to join the class, I decided to take him, even though it’s above the ability level of a three year-old. Part of the work includes reading short stories, and while he does listen, I’m not sure he’s listening the WHOLE time.

Prue most definitely notices the McGrath’s absence. We knew it would be hard for her, but for the last year, we’ve talked a lot about “what if we moved”, would she miss her buddy? So, she understood that both Drew and I had moved by 6 years old and that it was tough, but a part of life, sometimes. She still talks about him a lot, so I know she misses her buddy, Daniel a great deal, but she’s written him a postcard (that I need to mail), so she’s enjoying this way of keeping in touch with her friends.

Speaking of the McGrath’s departure, I must share something that I did. On their last Sunday, I played “God Be With You Til We Meet Again”, down in the parish hall, towards the end of coffee hour, and a few parishioners sang along to aid in sending them off with song. This was the first time I had played outside of my home in 10 years (excluding 3 Sundays of just Alto and Soprano parts of hymns in Spring 2005, back at Ascension).

See, until last month, I was determined to NEVER play in public EVER again. The last time I had, I was 17, in a rocky relationshiop with Crappy Previous Dude, and I was set to play Clementi’s Sonatina in G at St. Agatha’s. Being that I spent more time arguing with CPD, rather than practicing, this was an EPIC FAILURE. Like forgetting the music two pages in, actually starting over, getting to the exact same spot, and forgetting, right at the same spot.

When I played in 05, it was reluctantly, but I hated to sit in the pew, know that I could help out the church, and that I was unwiling to do so. It seemed selfish. But, the hymns would change the day of the service, from what I had practiced all week, so I would find myself playing just the right hand, so that it was accurate. It worked, we limped by those few weeks until a proper organist was hired, but that experience left me feeling like I had not conquered sucking royally back in 98.

Then, in 2007, I had offered to play a service at St. B’s, but the kids, and Drew, and I all got nasty sick. It was 3 weeks before the service, and I had practied maybe 3 times. Fearing a repeat, I bowed out, and Fr. Daniel was so understanding about it. I actually kept practcing, when I could steal away a moment here and there, just to see if I could have worked up something decent sounding. Yeah, no. Being totally wiped out with sickness had taken its toll, and there was not enough time left to work up something decent. But, at least I knew that I made the right decision in NOT playing. Screwing up would have just made getting back on the horse, even tougher.

I recently read a blog post by Rachel of Signing Time, “A Croatian, Two Americans and A Turk Go Diving”. She had a bad dive experience, got majorly chastised by the instructor, and was left feeling like she didn’t want to dive again. She spoke of how she remembered falling off a horse, as a teenager, and never trying again, and that motivated her to get up and go diving again, the next day.

That post really spoke to me, because I do want to serve the church as God has blessed me. I’m not an organist, by any stretch of the imagination, but I have taken organ lessons for 5 months. I know enough, that with a lot of hard work, I can produce a half decent service, filled with service music, hymns, and maybe a light prelude & postlude.

And so, this prompted me to volunteer to play the organ on July 5th, when our 3rd rector candidate will visit. Kindly, I’ve received most of the desired hymns, service music settings, so I’ve been able to practice here and there, as I’ve stolen some time during the day. My desire is that with hard work, I will be able to fill in as a substitue on july 5th, while our subsitute orgainis t is away, and it will sound a silght bit better than a “joyful noise”.

Here’s praying for lots of good, solid practice sessions.

And, soon, The Times They Are A-Changin’ part 2….

(This was actually written awhile ago, I am, just now, posting it to the weblog.)

Posted on June 24th, 2009 by Deedee
Filed under: Church, Life in general, Special Needs