Christmas
2017
Dear Family and Friends,
As Christmas approaches and 2017 nears its end,
we wanted to send you our greetings for a joyful Christmas and Happy New Year.
Here’s a brief look at what our family has been doing this year.
Jonathan is 15
now and in grade 10 at Kingston Collegiate & Vocational Institute. He
is in the School-to-Community (special needs) classroom and seems to like being
part of this supportive little community – at least judging from how eager he
is to get on the bus each morning! We were happy that Matt, Jonathan’s
Educational Assistant from last year, returned in September to work with him;
but then at Thanksgiving, Matt unexpectedly left to take another EA position
closer to his home. It was sad to see him go because he and Jonathan had made
such a great connection last year, but Jonathan is adapting well. He likes his
new assistant, Dylan, and they still go to the Y to swim and to the food bank
to volunteer each week. When his teachers realized how skilled Jonathan is at
basketball-shooting, they suggested he join the Special Olympics basketball
team that practices at the school each week, so he’s doing that every Friday
and may even be participating in a tournament in January. Also in the new year
he is going to attend a vocal music class and participate in the school theatre class for a couple of weeks. So we’re happy with how
the school is always seeking out new opportunities and experiences for him. He
still enjoys going to Circle of Friends with Daddy, going to camp at
Extend-a-Family, and attending Sunday School (our church is very flexible about
letting him attend a class that, while not at his age level, suits his level of
interest and understanding).
Allison turned
19 in August. After taking a year off, she enrolled at Queen’s this fall to
begin her Arts degree. She has elected to study part-time and take only online
courses, and this method of learning seems to be a good fit for her right now.
She is taking English and Psychology and is finding them interesting. This
spring she and I (Jeannie) took a train trip to PEI for a week. (This was in
addition to our annual family trip in August.) We shared a sleeping car on the
train and stayed at the motel near Dad’s while we were on the Island. This was
a nice getaway for the two of us – although neither of us found it very easy to
sleep on the train.
Richard
continues to work at Kingston General Hospital as a registered nurse and at
Queen’s as a clinical nursing instructor. He still runs and plays squash,
soccer, and softball as time and seasons allow; and he volunteers weekly at
Circle of Friends and with the Running and Reading Club at Molly Brant Public
School in Kingston.
I (Jeannie) am still
working as an online instructor at Queen’s. I’ve continued to work on my own
writing too: I have had one poem published at Altarwork and
two pieces published at The Perennial Gen (here
and here),
as well as guest posts for other blogger friends (here
and here).
I joined the Five Minute Friday writing community in January, and most of my
blog posts this year have been Five Minute Friday posts. (You can find all of them at my blog, Little House on the Circle.) Writing has become an
important part of my life, and finding community around writing has been great
-- whether it’s the small writers’ group I’ve been part of for nearly 10 years
(the group is small, not the writers, in case you’re wondering) or online
connections. I also continue to sing on the worship team when needed at Bethel
Church, and I am part of a women’s group there. This year Richard and I both attended a Bethel life group called Redemption Reel, in which
participants examine their own life story in the context of God’s bigger story.
That seems like an appropriate way to bring this
letter to a close, because at Christmas we take time to celebrate Jesus’ birth
– one of the central moments in God’s big story of redemption. Whether you
celebrate Christmas from this perspective, enjoy it as a time to relax with
family and friends, or have different observances altogether, we hope that you
will experience peace and joy at this time and that 2018 is your best year yet.
Love and
best wishes,
the Prinsen family
