A Christmas poem from me to you...

Twas the night before christmas, and all through the air
the shouts of wild Brock boys could be heard everywhere!

The baths had been taken, the snacks had been et--
but pajamas we had not put on quite yet.

And after a while my father and mother
put Thomas the Tank engine on for my brother,

And then we were dressed, and ready for bed
Just time to brush teeth and then Daddy said:

Go to sleep boys, and in the morning you'll find
that Christmas has come during the night time!

So away now to sleep, just one thing to say:
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good play!!

Love, Adam

Christmas break has begun

Hi all,

Well, we are off to a COLD start, with temperatures in the 20's this morning, warming up to a balmy 35 degrees by 2pm. I know, you are surprised that a young man like myself knows the word "balmy". Let's just say I have some wordy parents!

Mom dragged brother and I around Durham today in the buggy, wrapped up but still cold!! We had some errands to run and then had a root beer float at the soda shop on 9th street. It was fun, but not enough chairs and brother was ancy.

Tonight we went to a Christmas party at St John's church here in Durham. It was for all the people who had received presents from other people at other churches. Let me be more clear: it was mostly for people who had no money to buy presents, so were being given things so that their kids might have something to open in 3 days. It was really nice--and really good to do. Brother gave a gift to another young girl who was really happy. We felt good being there, because it made us think about how good it is to be a community together with other people who live near you. Sort of like me being in a classroom with other kids with disabilities--they are the ones who hug me the most, you know? Dad introduced me to a man with Down Syndrome who was there. His name is Luck, and he is 28. He's a bit bigger than me, but I know we are friends.

Oh, and I played piano for the whole group. Lots. Even when I wasn't supposed to--but you know something? They didn't mind.

Blessings to you all--more before Christmas.
Love, Adam.

What a week!!

Hi folks,

You may be wondering why I've not been writing lately. I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. It was my last week at school for one thing, and I had a lot to do. Mom and Dad have been dragging us to various parties (OK, just one, but it felt like many!). That was a Christmas dinner for the Divinity school at Duke, so I got to pal around with some of Dad's friends. Actually, I laid on the floor when my dinner was finished and made people step over me to get to the cobbler. He he!

Brother and I also lost our "pink car" to the recycling people when mom left it by the side of the street one morning. That was a sad story, until the next morning when Dad, as he was riding to work, came across one almost exactly the same sitting in someone else's rubbish. Perfect! He carried it in his bike basket to our church, and mom drove over as soon as I was off to school to pick it up. We now have two again, good as new. Actually, good as VERY used, but who cares?!

Now, the biggest news of all: I ate SALAD for dinner. Yep, you read right. Mom spooned it on to my plate, and when I couldn't get a piece on my spoon I just picked it up with my hands. It was good, and Mom and Dad were so pleased too. Now Dad says that if I can eat it, so can mom. Whatever that means. Hmmmm...

Today was a really sweet day too, my last day of this year at school. Mom gave Mr. Jerome (my taxi driver) some cookies when he picked me up from school. Then Mom and Brother came to my school to give them some cookies and pick me up early. Then we drove over to Hillandale, my old school, to see all my friends there and give them some cookies (do you see a theme here?). If I was worried that they had forgotten me, I now rest easy. They absolutely bombarded me with hugs and kisses, so much so that mom couldn't even see me for a good 10 minutes!! I had so much fun, laughing and playing and eating ice cream with my friends, it was really nice to reconnect. I even said my name several times so they could enjoy my new voice. I'll put up a picture of our class as soon as I can.

So, now I'm bushed and ready for bed. We played outside for a long time this afternoon since it was 70 degrees. Sorry, that was too good to keep to myself! Hope you all have a nice sleep.

More soon, Love Adam.

All quiet on the Eastern front

Hi all,

Just wanted to reassure you that I am indeed still here, still carrying on my important tasks of riding my car in the street, swinging at the playground, dancing to my music, feeding myself, and of course going to school! My "new ears" are still in working order, draining a bit more since I seem to have a mild cold or something. Mom and Dad are pleased with me, and brother is, well...still brother.

Isn't life good?

More soon, love Adam.

I PASSED!

Hi Folks,

Some good news for you all: Yesterday mom took me to my ENT, and he checked my hearing. Now, I know they can't do really concrete, exact measurements because I, um, don't sit still at all! But, I passed all the tests they did do, and it appears that my hearing is now pretty much normal without my hearing aids. I can't tell you how thrilled mom and dad are, and me too-those things were a little annoying, to tell the truth!

The only sad part is that I now have nothing to throw when I want to make a point (aka have a tantrum!)

More soon, Love Adam xxx

Happy Thanksgiving Jeremy

Hi all,

Mom has been telling us stories about their time in CA, and here's a good one I'm passing on. I'll tell it like she told me, it's better that way:

Jeremy

Hiya Adam! Brother and I went to the zoo today with your cousins Micah and Kaitlyn, Aunt Diana and Uncle Brian and Oma and Opa. We missed you and your daddy--I really wanted someone to take me on a walking tour of the whole grounds without stopping! There were lots of rocks to climb on, some great little monkeys swinging around (and one that made a really loud sound!), and even a train! Your brother loved the train, so we took it once before we left.

As we got off the train, I saw a boy, a bit older than you. In fact, he turned out to be 15, and his name was Jeremy. He was sitting in a wheelchair, waiting for his mom (or his carer?) to get a ticket for the train. He looked a little sad, so I went over to talk to him. I told him I liked his red cap--you would have loved it, nice and bright, hanging off his head a little like daddy's hangs off yours. His eyes lit up when I talked to him, and he reached out his hand to hold mine while we talked. Your brother was with me, and when his mom came back she said that Jeremy's hair used to be the color of your brother's hair. She showed me a picture of Jeremy when he was your age, and he was really cute--almost as cute as you! :)

She said thank you to me for stopping to talk to him, which I thought was a bit funny until I looked up and saw all the other people standing way back and looking at us. I couldn't tell what they were thinking, I could only think of what they were missing. Jeremy's smile as I talked to him could not have been any bigger--it absolutely lit up my day for a few brief minutes and made me realise something.

I realised that it made me feel a bit like I feel when I'm with you. You light up the world Adam, and not only for me but for lots of people. I hope someday that God will use you to the way He used Jeremy yesterday--to encourage me that in this world of seeming perfection, the only thing that matters is a genuine smile from someone who feels loved.

We love you Adam. We love Jeremy too.

Thankful for family once again!

Hi all,

We've got some more visitors, this time my Oma from TX, my aunt Brenda and Great Granny Mac, also from TX. They arrived today, and Dad and I went to the airport to pick them up. Not only was it great to see them, they had brought a cool little electric piano with them and I proceeded to play a concert in the baggage claim area, impromptu of course! OK, and the moving walkways going to and from the terminal are also a plus of any airport trip!

Speaking of airports, we're going tomorrow morning to drop brother and mom off so they can fly to CA for Thanksgiving. Don't worry about Dad and me, though--we have the three TX women to take care of us and we're all going to Asheville on Wednesday to see our Seneff cousins from FL. We might be a bit colder than in CA, but I'm sure we'll find plenty to do to keep warm!

Today we had my dad's class from Duke over for snacks, so there were lots of people to keep us company. Mostly the adults did talking, but some of them played a bit with me, and I turned my music up loud enough so that I could still hear it!

Take care, more soon! Love, Adam.