Great News!!

I got some great news about Christopher today. I had a meeting with his teacher this afternoon. They say that he is doing a great job in school and that they are going to try to get him back in the regular class for the whole day! This is a big real, because he has not been in the regular class for the whole day for 2 1/2 years. He is doing a phenomenal job in math, specials (art, gym, music, and library) and science/social studies. The only place he really needs a little extra help is in reading and language. He is reading at a second grade level (he is in second grade), but he is a little behind right now, so they are going to help him catch up. The plan is to have him completely caught up by the beginning of 4th grade so he will be in the regular class all day. When he was diagnosed with ADHD, he was so far behind I was really worried about him being able to catch up, but it looks like I have a really smart kid here! I hope everyone has a great day!

One of Those Feel Good Stories

As I read this news article, I could not help thinking how God must have enjoyed this rare act of kindness. The players on both teams should a remarkable ability to show kindness in a world that does not always think that men or boys should show emotion this way. I admired the players as I read this article, I will never remember the names mentioned in the story, but I will readily remember the kindness and caring they displayed. I wish the professional athletes in the world would read this and see that all the money and fame in the world are nothing, but simple acts of kindness can change the world. I just thought I'd pass the story on. It is well worth the time.


Amid the grieving, a rare act of sportsmanship

Associated Press

The coach never considered any other option.

It didn't matter that his DeKalb, Ill., High School basketball team had ridden a bus two and a half hours to get to Milwaukee, then waited another hour past game time to play. Didn't matter that the game was close, or that this was a chance to beat a big city team.

Something else was on Dave Rohlman's mind when he asked for a volunteer to shoot two free throws awarded his team on a technical foul in the second quarter. His senior captain raised his hand, ready to go to the line as he had many times before. Only this time it was different.

"You realize you're going to miss them, don't you?" Rohlman said. Darius McNeal nodded his head. He understood what had to be done.

It was a Saturday night in February, and the Barbs were playing a non-conference game on the road against Milwaukee Madison. It was the third meeting between the two schools, who were developing a friendly rivalry that spanned two states. The teams planned to get together after the game and share some pizzas and soda. But the game itself almost never took place.

Hours earlier, the mother of Milwaukee Madison senior captain Johntel Franklin died at a local hospital. Carlitha Franklin had been in remission after a five-year fight with cervical cancer, but she began to hemorrhage that morning while Johntel was taking his college ACT exam.

Her son and several of his teammates were at the hospital late that afternoon when the decision was made to turn off the life-support system. Carlitha Franklin was just 39.

"She was young and they were real close," said Milwaukee coach Aaron Womack Jr., who was at the hospital. "He was very distraught and it happened so suddenly he didn't have time to grieve."

Womack was going to cancel the game, but Franklin told him he wanted the team to play. And play they did, even though the game started late and Milwaukee Madison dressed only eight players. Early in the second quarter, Womack saw someone out of the corner of his eye. It was Franklin, who came there directly from the hospital to root his teammates on.The Knights had possession, so Womack called a time out. His players went over and hugged their grieving teammate. Fans came out of the stands to do the same.

"We got back to playing the game and I asked if he wanted to come and sit on the bench," Womack said during a telephone interview.

"No," Franklin replied. "I want to play."

There was just one problem. Since Franklin wasn't on the pre-game roster, putting him in meant drawing a technical foul that would give DeKalb two free throws. Though it was a tight game, Womack was willing to give up the two points. It was more important to help his senior guard and co-captain deal with his grief by playing. Over on the other bench, though, Rohlman wasn't so willing to take them. He told the referees to forget the technical and just let Franklin play.

"I could hear them arguing for five to seven minutes, saying, `We're not taking it, we're not taking it," Womack said. "The refs told them, no, that's the rule. You have to take them."

That's when Rohlman asked for volunteers, and McNeal's hand went up. He went alone to the free throw line, dribbled the ball a couple of times, and looked at the rim. His first attempt went about two feet, bouncing a couple of times as it rolled toward the end line. The second barely left his hand.

It didn't take long for the Milwaukee players to figure out what was going on. They stood and turned toward the DeKalb bench and started applauding the gesture of sportsmanship. Soon, so did everybody in the stands."I did it for the guy who lost his mom," McNeal told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "It was the right thing to do."

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Franklin would go on to score 10 points, and Milwaukee Madison broke open the game in the second half to win 62-47. Afterward, the teams went out for pizza, two players from each team sharing each pie.

Franklin stopped by briefly, thankful that his team was there for him."I got kind of emotional but it helped a lot just to play," he said. "I felt like I had a lot of support out there."

Carlitha Franklin's funeral was last Friday, and the school turned out for her and her son. Cheerleaders came in uniform, and everyone from the principal and teachers to Johntel's classmates were there.

"Even the cooks from school showed up," Womack said. "It lets you know what kind of kid he is."

Basketball is a second sport for the 18-year-old Franklin, who says he has had some scholarship nibbles and plans to play football in college. He just has a few games left for the Knights, who are 6-11 and got beat 71-36 Tuesday night by Milwaukee Hamilton. It hasn't been the greatest season for the team, but they have stuck together through a lot of adversity.

"We maybe don't have the best basketball players in the world but they go to class and take care of business," Womack said. "We have a losing record but there's life lessons going on, good ones."

None so good, though, as the moment a team and a player decided there were more important things than winning and having good stats. Yes, DeKalb would go home with a loss. But it was a trip they'll never forget.

"This is something our kids will hold for a lifetime," Rohlman said. "They may not remember our record 20 years from now, but they'll remember what happened in that gym that night."

Quick update!

Still no new news on Brad. The kids are all doing fine. We went to a friend's house for lunch and the kids had a blast! Nothing really new on the other stuff either. When I said quick, I meant it. :)

About Brad

Alright, I think I need to explain what is going on, at least what I know right now. Brad was put back in jail on the 29th of January. He has two more years left on his prison term. I believe that he will be there until the 2 years are over. As to why he went back, here is what I know:

1. Internet is not allowed to anyone convicted of a sexual offense -> He was caught using the internet at one of his jobs.

2. Porn is certainly not allowed either -> Well that is what he was looking at.

3. Every six months he was required to take a polygraph. He has taken two and passed neither of them. The first one was almost a freebie, because most people do not pass them. However he failed the second one also.

4. He also has a tendency to say whatever he thinks will get him out of trouble. That of course gets him in even more trouble.

5. He caused some problems for me, and that caused him to get in trouble also. I am not going to go into detail, but he was told he could not talk to me at all. He did not talk to me, but he decided that he was going to take me to court so he did not have to pay so much child support. Of course that got him in trouble also.

He may get to stay at a work release center, which would allow him to work and pay child support. I will not know about that until the middle of Feb. As I know more, I will pass it on.

As Hermoine Granger said in Harry Potter "What an idiot!"