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I took my mother to a beautiful Christmas concert tonight at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. It was A Christmas Celebration by the Desert Chorale and the Nevada Pops. There is always one selection that stands out at any concert. Yes, one melody, lyrics, or singer that steals your heart. For me, that selection was “Still Believe” sung by April Taggart. April’s voice filled the auditorium with melodic richness. I want to share the lyrics of this beautiful song with you ~ it glows with a Christmas message and so much more for life.
I haven’t seen His face
But I have seen His miracles
I haven’t heard His voice
But His spirit speaks to my heart
I haven’t felt His hands
But I have felt His peace
And blessed are those who haven’t seen
And still believe that He lives
And still believe that He walked upon the earth
And though my faith is just a seed
I still believe
I didn’t walk with Him
But each day He’s here by my side
I didn’t watch as He healed
But His love has changed my life
I didn’t see the cross
But I know it was for me
And blessed are those who haven’t seen
And still believe that He lives
And still believe that He walked upon the earth
And though my faith is just a seed
I still believe
I haven’t seen His eyes
But someday He’ll look into mine
And if He bids me come
I will worship at His feet
For blessed are those who haven’t seen
And still believe.
Merry Christmas
Music ~ Music ~ Music ~ Nothing is better than Christmas music to get us in the spirit of the season and to evoke memories. To those who wrote the notes and the lyrics, and to the artists who sing the songs we so love, I salute you. You give us joy, warmth, dreams, and sugar plums to dance in our heads, be they two or ninety-two.
After culling through Top Ten lists of favorite Christmas Songs on the internet, I decided to post the Top Ten Christmas song list in Kathie’s World. I enjoy listening to a variety of artists who instill their own version of tried and true popular Christmas songs. Take for instance, Neil Diamond and how he ”Neilizes” everything he sings. I simply call it “Neilization, ” and I love it. Or, Bing Crosby, with his unmistakable, mellow, voice from the past ~ it just wouldn’t be Christmas without Bing.
So here is my list ~ here are my songs ~ here is what I’ll be listening to plus so much more ~ enjoy the season of music and dance ~ find the CHRIST in Christmas in whatever you listen to.
Kathie’s World Top Ten Christmas Songs
1. The Eyes of a Child by Air Supply
2. Let There be Peace on Earth by Vince Gill and daughter, Jenny Gill
3. White Christmas by Bing Crosby
4. The Prayer by Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli
5. Merry Christmas Darling by The Carpenters
6. I’ll be Home for Christmas by Bing Crosby and/or Neil Diamond
7. Oh Holy Night by Andy Williams and/or Celine Dion
8. Go Tell it on the Mountain by Aretha Franklin and/or Gospel Choir
9. Silent Night by Josh Groban
10. The Christmas Song by Barry Manilow
Children love to read at night. Words of children’s books are like fireflies that twinkle in the summer skies and blink to the rhythm of dreams. They keep a cadence in little minds that linger long after the lights dim. Oh, as we turn back the pages of our own childhoods we all reminisce how we wanted to read one more story, just one more page, and one more picture, to tuck our minds into the silence of another night’s peaceful slumber.
Kiara’s room is abundant with choices of books to take to bed. At eight years of age, she can choose from Cupid Doesn’t Flip Hamburgers, the Julie B series, Lizzie McGuire’s, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Ella Enchanted ~ or many, many more.
“Kiara,” her dad stood in the doorway, “time for lights out. Your big soccer game is early tomorrow.”
“One more, daddy. Just one more book. Only a few pages. I’m in the middle of this good part right now.”
“Two minutes,” came dad’s reply, “then lights out.” Chris couldn’t distinguish what his daughter was reading because she was flipped over on her right side - back toward the door.
Two minutes passed, in fact, it was more like five when Chris entered Kiara’s room. “Time’s up,” he said as he walked toward her bed to plant a goodnight kiss on her cheek. As he did so he studied the tears that glistened in Kiara’s eyes and the tremble of her hands as she placed her book on her pillow. Their eyes met and their hands clasped as they lay them down, together, on the Holy Bible.
Inspired by Chris Trethewey and his daughter, Kiara, from Central Christian Church, Las Vegas, NV.
Need I say more ~ sign up today!
preconference bio sheet
Welcome to Kathie’s World! I look forward to being in your Kentucky World for a conference, Autism Spectrum ~ A Mother, A Speech Pathologist, A Message, on October 21st. Please take a few minutes to look around my website/blog. Get to know what I think and feel emotional about. Formulate some questions and feel free to ask them here or write them down for the conference.
Presenter, Kathie Harrington, M.A., CCC-SLP, holds a Master’s Degree from Truman State University, Kirksville, MO. She is owner and president of Good Speech, Inc., Las Vegas, NV.
Kathie’s professional experience in speech therapy include:
public schools, private schools, nursery schools,
NV Early Childhood Program, autism mentor, NV Early Childhood Autism Advisory,
Western States Task Force on Autism, CCSD Autism Task Force,
Three ACE – ASHA Awards, Ten CFY supervisions
international presenter, author
My husband, Tim, and I both look forward to meeting all of you in Western Kentucky. So does my little friend, Humpty Dumpty. He has his own blog so be sure to visit him too at On the Road with H.D.
A gift for you at the conference
See you there
Kathie
- Buddy Walk friends
The tenth annual Las Vegas Buddy Walk for the Down Syndrome Organization of Southern Nevada (DSOSN) was held on Sept. 18, 2010, at Kellogg-Zaher Park. What a show ~ What an event ~ What a day!
Congratulations to Sara Beldy as the official ambassador. Sara gave an inspirational speech followed by a song that brought tears to the entire audience of seveal hundred.
So many local sponsors helped support this wonderful event for children and adults with Down syndrome. DSOSN is there for families in every aspect.
As a speech/language pathologist, it is my priviledge to work with many of the DSOSN families. As my business and Good Speech therapists help them, we find that they inspire us. Working together, being buddies, sharing talents, smiles, and sometimes even tears just means that our lives have touched and our hearts walk in sync.
Thank you, Lori, for inviting me to part of Team Gigi. “She’s growing up before our very eyes.”
A champ!
This isn’t a new story and it didn’t happen yesterday but it’s a story that I love about my son, Doug. He fulfilled a golfer’s dream of making a hole-in-one and Doug, has autism. “A Hole in the Sky” will inspire you. Enjoy.
A Hole in the Sky
By Kathie Harrington
It was early in October. The air in Las Vegas was still not crisp but it was better than the 120 degree temperatures that had baked the desert golf courses for the last three months. It was a good day for a hole-in-one.
Doug took his typical stance at the tee during a routine round of golf for his University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) golf class. His arms were stiffer than most players. His body was rigid and didn’t sway with the perpetual breeze as did the leaves of the palm trees that lined the fairway. Doug’s
Doug’s eyes were on the ball and he never took them off the ground until he was sure the ball had landed, usually 20 to 30 feet in front or to one side of him. When Doug did stroll off of the tee and onto the lush greenery of the Black Mountain Golf Course, there was a difference to his gait, a stiffness to his walk like an unsynchronized action to every movement, as if his rhythm was off.
The rest of Doug’s foursome watched where the ball went for him. On this October day, six eyes traveled down the fairway and onto the green of hole #6. They couldn’t see it all but they knew where their eyes took them as the ball rolled over the edge of the cup.
“WAY TO GO, DOUG!” Hands came flying in Doug’s direction as they landed upon his shoulders and back. He stiffened once again.
“What a guy!”
“Can you believe it?”
“Pretend you hit that one for me, Doug.”
“I’ll buy you a beer at the end of this, Doug.”
“Nope, I don’t drink beer.” Doug looked at them with a poker face and added, “Where’s my ball?”
“Where do ‘ya think, Champ?” asked one of the guys.
A sudden smile loomed across Doug’s face. “In the hole?”
“You got it! You, Douglas Harrington, made a hole-in-one.”
“Can I get it now?”
All four of the young men smiled in harmony. “Now’s the time, Doug,” said one of them.
“My grandpa made a hole-in-one once. He got a trophy but he’s dead now. I remember he kept the ball,” proclaimed Doug.
“Are you going to keep your ball, Doug?” asked the young man with the baseball cap.
“Sure. Maybe grandpa dropped it there from heaven,” said Doug.
“Just maybe he did help, Doug, but I think you hit it on your own. This one’s for you to keep, buddy,” said the friend as he plucked the ball from the metal lined hole and handed it to Doug.
Doug’s eyes glanced quickly to the ball and then up toward the sky. He didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to.
Three young men learned something that day in October that will hopefully remain with them for the rest of their lives. They learned that, although handicapped by the disorder of autism, one of their own experienced the greatest triumph in a golfer’s life – a hole-in-one.
- Turtle as a baseball star
As a speech/language pathologist (SLP) I worked with a Turtle. He didn’t have a shell and he didn’t crawl on four legs, but Kana’i's nickname is Turtle. It was in 2005 that I first had the priviledge of meeting Turtle and his family through my private speech therapy practice, Good Speech, Inc., in Las Vegas, NV. Turtle was only three years old and his speech was unintelligible. His long, black hair framed his adorable face with ringlets and although no one could understand him, he had something to say about everything.
Turtle’s speech improved a great deal with intensive speech therapy and with carryover strategies implemented by his parents on a daily basis in the home environment. Soon, however, Turtle’s family moved to Hawaii and subsequently to Texas. He continued in speech therapy and today his mother says, “Turtle’s speech is so much better. He can speak clearly when he WANTS to. When he is excited, his words become attached to one another. When he is “lazy”, he does not pronounce the ending sound of each word. He does enjoy speaking in front of the class and actually recited a pretty lengthy poem (The Crocodile’s Toothache) in his 2nd grade class last year and placed 2nd overall in his grade level.”
I didn’t tell you that at 3, Turtle played like a pro on a drum set! He no longer drums but he loves music and dances to everything. He’s a football player these days. His mother reports that the following pictures are the first day of hitting with pads for football. ”He is one of the smallest and youngest players on his football team, but he is the HARDEST HITTER on the team!” I WOULD BELIEVE THAT FROM MY TURTLE!
Of course, Turtle is one of the thousand’s of children with whom I have worked with over the many years of my speech therapy career. What a rewarding profession I am in to be able to keep in touch with families like Turtle’s and to follow his progress.
When I see YOU, Turtle, in the Pro ranks a few years from now, I’ll remember when and I’ll have your back, just like I did when you were 3.
Front page of Iowa Falls Times Citizen by Eric Mandel, September 11, 2010
(double click on the papers to magnify)
Front page of the Iowa Falls Times Citizen, by Eric Mandel, September 8, 2010
Be sure to visit On the Road with Humpty Dumpty
