A LOGOPHILE WRITES

Last week, I went on a mission to renew my CPR/First Aid/AED certification. It began with 200 minutes of online reading, videos, and practice exercises. I was awarded a temporary certification. And on Saturday, I met with my assigned instructor and three other strangers to complete the rest of my homework.  Our next two hours of in-person classwork were fun ones.  I became acquainted with a man and his 17 year old daughter. (Come to think of it, we never did proper introductions, so I have no idea what their names were.) They were very interactive and asked good questions. They also added funny comments to the discussion. While practicing all our newly acquired skills, they were a team. The other participant was a man in his upper 20's with a bald head, pale skin, and round glasses. He is a teacher at a local school, he lives within several miles from my house, and that's all I know about him.  (Oh, except that he appeared to have arrived early for the purpose of inhaling...

 Last August, I was privileged to be part of a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Thirteen of the Faith Mission staff were assigned a student. Then we hopped on a big bus and went on a five day tour. Okay, wait. It wasn't quite that simple. :-)  Twice a year, Faith Mission Home initiates what we call Program Trip. A small group of staff - typically the ones who have served there the longest - are invited to go. Then, they are assigned to a student for the entire five days. A repertoire is formed, and the group meets daily for three weeks to practice. Once completed, the group travels to several different churches to share what they've rehearsed. The tour is by no means an attempt at performance; we were far from professional! Instead, it's an opportunity to sing about heaven and the love of Jesus with our special needs students and to raise an awareness about what we do at Faith Mission Home. Those who go on Program Trip focus less on music notes and harmonizing than they do on...

Before I was born, my soon-to-be aunts and uncle decided to take matters into their own hands and name me.  I was going to be Calvin Andy Hobbs, they said. And for short, they would call me "Calvin An' Hobbs". Such a good name if you like comics.  But then I was born. I turned out to be a girl who my parents named "Sonya Janine". And my would-be nickname was just a funny story.  I never had many nicknames growing up. I guess you can't really make much out of a five letter name. My dad called me "Son-Son" long enough that it stuck with some of my older cousins, and they still call me that to this day. But I never grew up knowing what it was like to have a real name AND a nickname.  Then I went to Faith Mission Home. Apparently, it's an unspoken rule that working there means receiving a new name. Or multiple ones, for that matter. For the first time in my entire life, I learned to respond to many different titles.  Eric was a student at FMH. Whil...