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McLean Connection ❖ April 13-19, 2016 ❖ 1www.ConnectionNewspapers.com

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online at www.connectionnewspapers.comApril 13-19, 2016

McLeanMcLean HomeLifeStyleHomeLifeStylePage 12

HomeLifeStyle

The McLean Little League Parade marchesdown Westmoreland Street toward the

Opening Day Ceremonies at McLean LittleLeague Park on Saturday, April 9 in McLean.

The McLean Little League Parade marchesdown Westmoreland Street toward the

Opening Day Ceremonies at McLean LittleLeague Park on Saturday, April 9 in McLean.

Three Cents This Year:But ‘Enough is Enough’News, Page 3

Progress Made, ChallengesRemain on EndingHomelessnessNews, Page 4

Three Cents This Year:But ‘Enough is Enough’News, Page 3

Progress Made, ChallengesRemain on EndingHomelessnessNews, Page 4

McLean Little League ParadeDraws Big Crowds

News, Page 2

McLean Little League ParadeDraws Big Crowds

News, Page 2

2 ❖ McLean Connection ❖ April 13-19, 2016 www.ConnectionNewspapers.com

News

More than 1,300 people on108 teams attended the61st annual McLean LittleLeague Parade and Opening

Day Ceremonies on Saturday, April 9 inMcLean. Led by the McLean Volunteer FireDepartment and Auxiliary Police and localdignitaries, the parade route started atMcLean High School and proceeded downWestmoreland Street and ended at theMcLean Little League Park, Field No. 2.

In spite of the rain, local dignitaries inattendance included Congresswoman Bar-bara Comstock, state Sen. Barbara Favola,state Del. Kathleen Murphy, state Del. RipSullivan, state Del. Marcus Simon andDranesville District Supervisor John Foust.

Greeting the little league players on thefield with high-five handshakes were base-ball and softball team members fromMcLean High, Langley High, George MasonHigh and Potomac High schools.

More than 1,300 people on 108 teams attended.

McLean Little League Parade Draws Big Crowds

Photos by Steve Hibbard/The Connection

Members of the Langley High School baseball team give high-fives to thelittle league players on the way to the field.

Jayson Werth of the Washington Nationals baseball team threw out theceremonial first pitch to catchers Jonah Miller, Zach Reid, Brooke Siegeland Michael Shank.

At the awards ceremony on the field, theScott Bradshaw Leadership Award went toAmerican League player Matt Keay and Na-tional League player Brian Gatti. The KarenVagley Inspirational Leadership Award wentto Maria Urban. The Volunteer of the Yearaward went to (now deceased) Coach BenCrawford, in memoriam, accepted by sonHarrison (wife Stephanie Luongo). And theHonor Roll awards went to KevinCamphausen, Bill Takis, and Chip and CatLippman. It was noted that Wayne Insula-tion has been a team sponsor for all 61 years.

Throwing out the ceremonial first pitcheswere Umpire Pat McDonough and JaysonWerth of the Washington Nationals base-ball team. The catchers were: Jonah Miller,Zach Reid, Brooke Siegel and MichaelShank. Cooper Middle School Choir sangthe national anthem.

— Steve Hibbard

The Washington Nationals spon-sored by Shelter House headsdown the parade.

The McLean Volunteer Fire Depart-ment heads down WestmorelandStreet.

The Cooper Middle School Choir sang the national anthem.

Local dignitaries included Congresswoman Barbara Comstock, state Sen.Barbara Favola, state Del. Kathleen Murphy, state Del. Rip Sullivan, stateDel. Marcus Simon and Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust.


NewsMcLean Connection Editor Kemal Kurspahic

703-778-9414 or [email protected]

By Ken Moore

The Connection

Nine board members of theMcLean Citizens Associationwanted the civic associationto tell the Board of Supervi-

sors it wants no real estate tax increase.“There is nothing sacred about the adver-

tised budget. It is only a proposal to loadan increased burden on taxpayers who arealready overburdened,” said Board mem-ber Bill Crosby.

This might not be the right year, saidboard member Anne Gruner, but “at whattime do we say, ‘enough is enough.’”

Jim Turner said income is not rising com-mensurate with increasing tax burdens. “AllI know is this can’t continue,” said Turner.

The Board of Supervisors advertised bud-get calls for a four-cent tax hike to real es-tate taxes.

The County Executive’s Advertised Bud-get, which calls for a four-cent increase,transfers more than $2 billion to FCPS andprovides over 52 percent of County Gen-eral Fund revenues to the schools, accord-ing to county documents. Even with the fullfour-cent increase, the schools face a sig-nificant shortfall of more than $60 millionaccording to budget documents.

THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS canadopt a tax rate that is lower, but not higher,than what was advertised at its board meet-ing Tuesday, March 1.

Each penny on the real estate tax rateprovides $23 million in revenue. The FairfaxCounty Board of Supervisors voted for afour-cent tax rate increase, advertising a taxrate of $1.13 per $100 of assessed value.

But after 150 minutes of debate lastWednesday, April 6, 2016, which fol-lowed 90 minutes of committee discus-

authored the draft of MCA’s budget resolu-tion.

“This was done in a spirit of compro-mise,” he said. “There are those who arepassionate about education, libraries,parks … and there are those who are pas-sionate about taxes.”

Sally Horn, past president of MCA, saidshe thinks it’s a “reasonable compromise.”

“We want to be responsible in terms ofneeds in the county,” said Horn.

“This is a reasonable approach for thisparticular year,” she said. “It’s not onlyschools, it’s parkland, it’s libraries, it’s hu-man needs.”

“I think the three-cent increase is impor-tant,” said Glenn Harris, vice president. “Ithink if we go on record against it, it willhave a negative impact on quality of life inFairfax County.”

“THE QUALITY of life in our communitydepends to a great extent on the serviceswhich Fairfax County provides — educationfor our children, public safety, parks, librar-ies, among others — and the costs of pro-viding and improving those services con-tinue to rise,” according to the resolution,“now therefore be it resolved that theMcLean Citizens Association commends theFairfax County Board of Supervisors fortheir efforts to identify and fund budgetpriorities, with increasing focus on educa-tion and public safety.”

Jeff Barnett, MCA president, testified be-fore the Board of Supervisors the next day.

With its resolution, MCA urged the Boardof Supervisors to look at “other opportuni-ties for revenue improvement.”

Possible measures included, “higher ho-tel occupancy taxes paid by hotel patrons,a higher cigarette tax consistent with thepractice of surrounding localities, an admis-sions tax to places of amusement or enter-tainment, the possibility of a meals tax, anda reevaluation of permit and user fees, setconsistently to fully recover costs,” accord-ing to MCA’s resolution.

“So we get to share the fun with others,”said Stein, during the MCA’s board meet-ing.

Why does everything need to “be on theback of the real estate tax,” he said.

McLean Citizens Association calls for tax increase with restraint.

Three Cents This Year: But ‘Enough is Enough’

At the McLean Woman’s Club meeting on April 5,member Linda Wheeler described, with visual aids,her continuing work as an onsite volunteer in east-ern Guatemala, providing medical aid to infants andchildren in remote mountain areas. Wheeler workswith a program called Operation Baby Rescue, whichbrings babies and young children from these areasto a “rescue center” in a low-lying village, wheremedical care is available. The youngsters are usuallyseriously ill or malnourished, largely because of thelack of clean water in the region. The most seriouscases brought down may be rushed to a nearby medi-cal facility for extensive care.

On numerous occasions, Wheeler and her husbandhave travelled by plane, train, boat and on foot tothe remote mountainous areas. Such trips can lastup to six hours each way over rough and rocky ter-rain. Her next trip to Guatemala will take place inNovember. She had planned the trip for this month,

but because mosquitoes carrying the Zika virus willbe present until fall in the areas of concern, she ispostponing it for drier weather.

The total cost of such a trip is about $1,800. At theWoman’s Club meeting, a collection toward this costwas taken, and club members had brought contribu-tions of clothing, toys, towels and over-the-countermedical supplies.

Operation Baby Rescue partners with a programknown as Hope of Life International-Guatemala,which was begun some 30 years ago in the easternpart of the country and serves hundreds of thousandsof people each year. Hope of Life-International is aregistered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Itswebsite address is https://www.hopeoflifeintl.org. Alink for Operation Baby Rescue-Guatemala can befound at https://vimeo.com/31150334.

—Laura Sheridan

Photo by Ken Moore/The Connection

“In a spirit of compromise,” McLean Citizens Association advocates forthe Board of Supervisors to adopt a 3-cent real estate increase not theadvertised 4-cent increase.

sion, the McLean Citizens Associationconcluded by recommending a three-centcompromise.

“We argued for about an hour and a halfand we came up with a compromise of threecents,” said Dale Stein, chair of MCA’s Bud-get and Taxation Committee who co-

Bringing Medical Aid to Guatemalan Children

Woman’s Clubmember LindaWheeler de-scribes hervolunteer workin Guatemala.

Photo by

Laura Sheridan/

Woman’s Club


News

By Andrea Worker

The Connection

In 2008, Fairfax County partnered withthe City of Falls Church to adopt anambitious strategic plan to address theissue of homelessness in the region.

The following year, the Fairfax County Of-fice to Prevent and End Homelessness wasestablished to “manage, coordinate andmonitor the day-to-day implementation” ofthe plan, with its ambitious target date of10 years to achievement. In 2014, thecounty accepted the “Mayor’s Challenge toEnd Veteran Homelessness” as announcedby First Lady Michelle Obama, and sup-ported by the Department of Housing andUrban Development. This one came withan even more aggressive deadline: accom-plish the mission by the end of 2015.

The numbers for both goals are certainlyencouraging. In November, Gov. TerryMcAuliffe declared that Virginia had be-come the first state to reach that “Chal-lenge” milestone, with every veteran hav-ing housing, except for those who had beenoffered, but refused shelter. By “function-ally” ending veteran homelessness, the statecertifies that it has in place systems to pre-vent veteran homelessness wherever pos-sible, and to see that it is otherwise a “rare,brief, and non-recurring experience.” Tomaintain this status, being able to securehousing for willing veterans within 90 days,and having more homes readily availablethan the numbers of veterans without shel-ter, are parts of the requirements.

Among the general population of home-less, the numbers have also decreased. Ac-cording to the 2016 “Point-in-Time” census(an annual survey where county personneland volunteers scour the streets, woods andother areas to approximate the numbers ofarea homeless) conducted on Jan. 28, thetotal number of homeless declined by 42percent since the implementation of the 10-Year Plan. In just the last year, the numbersfell from 1204 to 1059. While the numberof homeless singles remains relatively un-changed since the last survey, homelessnessamong families declined from 715 to 577.Even better news is that there are 33 per-cent less families in emergency shelters, andat the time of the survey, shelters reportedvacancies.

It looks like there are battles on this frontfinally being won, but with over 1000 ofour neighbors - that we were able to count- still unhoused, the war on homelessnessis far from over, according to Karen Cleve-land, president of the Cleveland CoachingGroup, president and CEO of LeadershipFairfax, and the moderator of the 2016HomeAid Northern Virginia (HANoVA)Housing Forum, held on April 7. The an-

nual gathering brings together those whowork directly with the homeless and withthose who are struggling to avoidhomelessness, from across all of the juris-dictions of Northern Virginia. “This is aunique opportunity to meet with, and learnfrom, colleagues who understand your chal-lenges, to share best practices, and brain-storm a bit and maybe come up with somenew ways of tackling the problems,” notedCleveland.

HomeAid Board president Greg Carter, asenior vice president with Bank of AmericaMerrill Lynch, opened the event with a wel-come, and an invitation for all to check outhis company’s free website “Better MoneyHabits.” “When I say free, I really mean it,”

said Carter. “No passwords, no fees, so sign-ups, just access to easy-to-understand tipsand instructionals on better financial plan-ning and management…ways to savemoney.” Since assisting their clients withjust these issues is often a part of their work,the attendees seemed interested andpleased to add the website to their resourcekit.

Following a quick “stand up and introduceyourself” exercise, Cleveland introduced apanel of four – Minerva Labrador withNorthern Virginia Family Service, MichelePorter-Will of Volunteers of America Chesa-peake, Oliver Reid with New Hope Hous-ing, and Blair Copeland from Carpenter’sShelter – and the discussion on “Keeping

People Housed” began.

THE PANELISTS shared success storiesand some of the methods by which theyovercame obstacles to success with certainclients and situations. Despite the differentjurisdictions in which they operated and thedifferent aspects of the problems they spe-cialized in, all four agreed on some com-mon issues and some common positive ap-proaches.

“Affordable housing. That’s the stumblingblock over and over again,” declared Por-ter-Will to the nods of agreement from herfellow panelists and most of the audience,as well. “Especially for families,” she added.“People with good-paying, stable employ-ment can find it difficult to afford a decent,safe place to live in our region. Now trydoing it on minimum wage or less.” Creditissues, health issues, poor job histories, andthe unexpected difficulties of life like di-vorce, abandonment, domestic abuse, andsudden job loss also contribute to pushingpeople into homelessness.

Lack of affordable housing has been fur-ther highlighted by the recent focus on“Rapid Re-housing” as the first priority. Reidexplained that the paradigm shift to quicklyfinding housing for the homeless, then“wrapping the services around them in thismore stable environment,” means less timeto work with the client to find suitable hous-ing or to help them correct barriers to goodhousing options like poor past credit. His-torically, assistance to the homeless meantaccepting them into shelters where casemanagers and others would work with themto solve the problems and issues that hadled to their situation, sometimes for months,if not even years, before placing them inindependent housing. The “Rapid Re-hous-ing” model sometimes leads to a “raceagainst time” was Blair Copeland’s assess-ment. While agreeing that the model offereda stable environment from which clientscould begin their journey upward and wasespecially favorable for homeless families,Copeland admitted that it often left themscrambling to find housing before theycould address the obstacles, prepare theclient, and create a partnership with a land-lord willing to take on what they might viewas a higher-risk tenant. Reid’s New HopeHousing in particular requires a strong re-lationship with landlords since his organi-zation often deals with clients who haveserved prison time, and some who are reg-istered sex offenders.

The change to “Rapid Re-housing” alsomeant that new roles – like Housing Loca-tors - have had to be created in the organi-zations and agencies represented, and otherpersonnel have had to learn new skills anddeliver them “even more rapidly,” saidMinerva Labrador. “The more traditionallyspecialized roles of service staff are becom-ing more integrated. There’s a lot less ‘you’llhave to wait until Tuesday for the caseworker to address that’ than we had before.

See Forum, Page 5

HomeAid NoVA hosts‘Keep the HomelessHoused’ Forum.

Progress Made, Challenges Remain

From left — The panel for the HomeAid “Keeping the Homeless Housed”were Minerva Labrador, Northern Virginia Family Service; Michele Por-ter-Will, Volunteers of America Chesapeake; Oliver Reid, New HopeHousing; and Blair Copeland, Carpenter’s Shelter. Moderator KarenCleveland, the Cleveland Group, leads the discussion from the podium.

From left — Susan Mekenny, member of NVAR Cares, the charitable armof the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors, speaks with U.S. ArmyCapt. Kerri Turner at the Forum. Turner, who is also Ms. Veteran America2015, was the event’s Keynote Speaker and highlighted the plight ofhomeless female veterans, especially those with families.

Photos by Andrea Worker/The Connection


News

From Page 4

That’s a good thing,” said Porter-Will.Working cross-jurisdictionally within the

region, and even out of state, was anothersignificant challenge discussed by the ser-vice providers. Copeland noted that some-times to find suitable and affordable hous-ing meant relocating clients out of the area.Some of the attendees spoke of relocationsto Winchester, Front Royal, Hagerstown,Maryland, and even towns in North Caro-lina, but all expressed concerns about thefollow-up and continued services thesemovers would receive – and there might bethe perception that Northern Virginia ismerely “moving the problem along, and thatis not what we are trying to do,” insistedCopeland.

After the panel concluded, the attendeeswere treated to U.S. Army Captain KerriTurner as the Keynote Speaker. Capt. Turneralso happens to be Ms. Veteran America2015 and is a spokesperson for Final Sa-lute, a nonprofit whose mission is to findsafe and affordable housing for women vet-erans and their families. By the looks ontheir faces, Turner shocked quite a few inthe audience when she informed them thatneither the Veterans Administration nor theDepartment of Housing and Urban Devel-opment had kept any records on homelessfemale vets before 2011. Final Salute’sfounder was a female veteran and single-mother who served her country for 15 years,but when faced with serious adversity – in-cluding head, throat and neck cancer - shewas advised to seek assistance through welfare pro-grams since the military did not have programs forfemale veterans with families. Not long after her cir-cumstances and health improved, Jaspen Boothestarted Final Salute to assist “the forgotten soldiers.”Since 2010 the organization has assisted over 900women veterans and children in over 30 states andterritories.

A CHAPTER of HomeAid America, HomeAid NoVAis a nonprofit that was started in 2001 by membersof the Northern Virginia Building Industry Associa-tion. Founded on the belief that the “best way to solvehomelessness is to ensure that everyone has a safeand stable place to live,” the organization’s partnersbuild and renovate housing and shelter facilities. Todate, they have completed over 100 projects, and

with so much donated labor, expertise, materials andresources, they are able to help shelter organizationssave significant amounts of money that can be usedto fund vital programs and services to keep their cli-ents housed and leading better lives, and to help oth-ers avoid homelessness.

The attendees at the HomeAid Housing Forumwant everyone to realize that ending homelessnessreally does “take a village” and that it is in everyone’sbest interest to help prevent it, and to help returnour homeless neighbors to safe and productive livesin the community. For information on the issue andhow to help, there are numerous agencies and orga-nizations to contact. Starting points can be HomeAidNoVA at www.homeaidnova.org. or the FairfaxCounty Office to Prevent and End Homelessness atwww.fairfaxcounty.gov.

Forum On Ending Homelessness

Photo by Andrea Worker/The Connection

Let’s talk about it – the attendees at the HomeAidHousing Forum break into groups to share theirexperiences and expertise and look for ways tocollaboratively prevent and end homelessness inthe region.


❖ Ken Moore, Oak Hill/HerndonConnection, First Place – Featurewriting portfolio included a trip to thefarmers market, remembrance of Latinteacher Christine Sleeper andcelebration of the one-year birthday ofthe Silver Line.

❖ Marilyn Campbell, Oak Hill/HerndonConnection, Second Place – Health,science and environmental writing

❖ Kenneth Lourie, Oak Hill/HerndonConnection, Second Place – Columnwriting. Judge: “Though filled withheavy subject matter, the authorhooks readers by using his first-personperspective, humor and emotion todescribe the events of his life. Thesecolumns grab your attention from thefirst paragraph.”

❖ Ken Moore, Oak Hill/HerndonConnection, Second Place – Generalnews writing for election coverage.“Excellent coverage. … Balanced andthorough. Effective at conveying whythis is relevant for readers.”

❖ Jon Roetman, Oak Hill/HerndonConnection, Second Place – Sportswriting portfolio.

❖ Kemal Kurspahic, Geovani Flores,Laurence Foong, Mary Kimm, OakHill/ Herndon Connection, ThirdPlace – Editorial pages

❖ Ken Moore, Reston Connection, FirstPlace – Feature series or continuingstory, on Reston founder Robert Simon. Judge’scomment: “This was an in-depth series, veryinformative and interesting to read.” Moore coveredseveral key moments, including celebration ofFounder’s Day 2015 and Simon’s 101st birthday;later, Moore wrote Simon’s obituary and coveredthe celebration of Simon’s life.

❖ Jean Card, Laurence Foong, Renee Ruggles, Vienna/Oakton Connection, Second Place – Informationalgraphics, Connection Insiders Guide to the Parks.

❖ Mary Kimm, Great Falls Connection, Second Place –

Editorial writing for multiple editorials on policetransparency. Judge: “Brings important pressure tobear on people in power.”

❖ Ken Moore, Great Falls Connection, Second Place –Health, science and environmental writing; storiescovering issues of deer, cleanup of groundwatercontamination from gas station and treepreservation. Judge: “Excellent and informative.”

❖ Laurence Foong, Great Falls Connection, Third Place– Informational graphics, Map of Property

Assessments. Judge: “A very interestingconcept.”❖ Ken Moore, McLean Connection, ThirdPlace – Feature writing portfolio. Judge:“Great reads on interesting topics. Whoknew there was such a thing as pinballchampionship, especially out ofsomeone’s basement? Pull outinformation added neat and tidy factsand/or information.”❖ Abigail Constantino, FairfaxConnection, Second Place – General newsphoto, Natasha McKenna’s great auntholds a sign: “You promised you wouldnot kill me.” Judge: “Good capture ofemotionally charged event.”❖ Tim Peterson, Springfield Connection,Second Place – Personal service writing,coverage of three worthy causes. Judge:“This submission quickly makes thereader care about the causes championedin the stories. ... There was good detailpresented in such a way as to make thereader want to donate to each of thesecauses by the end of the story — I wasready to get my checkbook out afterreading each one.”❖ Tim Peterson, Springfield Connection,Third Place – Government writing,coverage on aftermath of police shootingof John Geer, Virginia General Assembly.Judge: “A very comprehensive look at theGeer case was well-thought out and I wasvery impressed with the state legislature

package.”❖ Tim Peterson, Springfield Connection, Third Place –

Public safety writing, stories on sex trafficking,police and fire department training and NationalNight Out. Judge: “Each of the stories in thissubmission is comprehensive in its handling of thetopic, as well as engaging for the reader. Theinformation offered is very good, and thepresentation attractive. There was adequate spacegiven to each story, which was then complementedby excellent artwork.”

Connection Awards - Partial Listing

Photo by Abigail Constantino

Natasha McKenna’s great aunt Eudora Paul carries asign with McKenna’s words the day she was tasered byofficers from the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Department.Photo by Abigail Constantino won second place forGeneral News Photo.

Opinion

Connection Newspapers won dozens of awardsfrom the Virginia Press Association for workdone in 2015. Award winners were announcedon Saturday, April 9, at an awards banquet inRichmond.

While the papers won awards in many cat-egories, the common underpinning was com-munity journalism, accessibility of information,and reporting on critical issues like transpar-ency in government.

Thematically, the papers won multipleawards for stories and sections that were in-formative and helped make communities,events and resources more accessible to ourreaders.

Examples included Ken Moore’s reporting onRobert Simon’s role in Reston, which includedcoverage of Simon’s 101st birthday, Simon’songoing influence, and his obituary. The se-ries won first place.

Print newspaper obituaries play a vital rolein local communities, reflected in JeanneTheismann’s first place award for three obitu-aries in the Alexandria Gazette Packet. EarlLloyd was born into “the cradle of segregation”yet persevered to become the first AfricanAmerican to break the color barrier in the NBA.Dr. Robert Wineland,– “Dr. Bob,” was a WW II

veteran and survivor of the Battle of the Bulge.He was a beloved local doctor for more than60 years. And Ferdinand Day was the first Af-rican American to be elected to chair a publicschool board in the state of Virginia.

We are lucky to have cartoonist Steve Artleyto skewer and edify many issues, including hisfirst place cartoon that suggests Alexandriacould solve parking and housing problems byplacing both on barges in the Potomac River.

Jean Card, Renee Ruggles and LaurenceFoong have collaborated over several years onthe Insider’s Guide to the Parks, which wonawards in Mount Vernon and Vienna/Oakton,capping several awards for informationalgraphics.

Our Newcomers and Community Guide toArlington was described as “Informative, wellwritten, with good use of graphics.” Winnersincluded Steven Mauren, Eden Brown, VernonMiles, Shirley Ruhe, Laurence Foong.

Sarai Johnson, Hope Nelson, Shirley Ruhe,and Steve Hibbard won second place for en-tertainment pages in the Alexandria GazettePacket, weekly coverage of arts, entertainment,food and things to do in Alexandria.

Reporting on elections, the environment,health and fitness, and organizations that aredesigned to help others also garnered awards.

Kenny Lourie won for his ongoing columnwriting about living with cancer. Lourie bothlives and writes with humor and perspective.The judge said, “Though filled with heavy sub-ject matter, the author hooks readers by usinghis first-person perspective, humor and emo-

tion to describe the events of his life. Thesecolumns grab your attention from the firstparagraph.”

Abigail Constantino’s photo that shows thegreat aunt of Natasha McKenna at a protest ofMcKenna’s death in custody, won second placefor general news photo. Eudora Paul’s sign dis-plays McKenna’s last words: “You promised youwould not kill me.”

Tim Peterson’s coverage of McKenna’s deathwon second place in In Depth/Investigative.Peterson garnered the most awards of anyConnection staff member, winning seven.

Mary Kimm’s editorials on lack of policetransparency and local government account-ability won second place for editorial writing.

Kemal Kurspahic’s opinion pages in theHerndon Connection won third place.

Jeanne Theismann, whose profile includesthat she “dreams of one day writing headlinesfor the New York Post,” won second place forheadline writing in the Alexandria GazettePacket. Headlines: Some Like It Haute, – storyabout the 10-year anniversary of a boutiquewarehouse sale; Soul Providers, a story aboutvolunteers recognized for service to seniors;Something to Wine About,– on the opening ofa new wine cellar; Luck Be a Lady,– on theopening of a new bath apothecary calledLadyburg; To the Rescue, about– a nonprofitstarted by firefighters to collect toys for un-derprivileged children.

— Mary Kimm

[email protected]

Still striving to be theConnection to yourcommunity.

Award Winning Connection Newspapers www.ConnectionNewspapers.com

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Editor & PublisherMary Kimm

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Twenty-four paintings ofGreat Falls by Reston artist Mar-garet Newton are on displaythrough May 7 at Modern His-tory Collection, 8100F Old Do-minion Drive in McLean, 10a.m.-6 p.m., Monday-Saturday.From more than 100 drawingscame 26 paintings, two of whichare currently on display at theJoAnn Rose Gallery in Reston,also through April. The textural,modern, energetic paintings re-flect the falls in all her moodsand includes the wildlife ob-served over the past six months.Newton worked primarily as afigure sculptor over the past 20years and her paintings includea sculptural and energetic styleof Gustav Klimt.

“I began visiting Great Fallsfor the purpose of gatheringsketches for a series of paintings.As a sculptor it seemed fittingto embrace the paintings sculp-turally. Having created figura-tive art for the past 20 years,taking the figure into the land-scape was natural. To me, theearth is a beautiful woman. Totranslate the moods of the Falls,after a rainstorm, after the firstsnow, during a windy day, in the

early morning, as the sun set, asthe leaves fall, as buzzards perchin branches was part of the pro-cess of observation. I love howrivers reflect our own arteriesand veins from the vantagepoint of the sky,” said Newton.

Another solo exhibit of MargaretNewton’s work is being held at theHerndon Senior Center throughApril. For more details, [email protected] call 703-942-6507.

Margaret Newton’s Paintings onDisplay in McLean

Photo by Margaret Newton

“Great Falls-Daylight,”24" x 30" original oilpainting by MargaretNewton.

Send announcements to [email protected]. Deadline isFriday for the following week’s paper. Pho-tos/artwork encouraged.

ONGOING“Unnecessary Farce.” Fridays-

Sundays. April 29-May 14. AldenTheatre, 1234 Ingleside Ave., McLean.Call for times. Classic farce with acontemporary American plot: thepolice procedural. $18-$20.www.mcleanplayers.org. 866-811-4111.

Driven to Abstraction. April 1-30.Great Falls Library, 9830 GeorgetownPike, Great Falls. Features over 20works. 703-757-8560.

April Artist Showcase. April 1-27.Broadway Gallery, 1025-J SenecaRoad, Great Falls. Great Falls Gallerywill feature the paintings ofAustralian artist Ken Strong.broadwaygalleries.net. 703-450-8005.

“Proof.” March 31-May 8. 1st Stage,1524 Spring Hill Road, Tysons.Pulitzer Prize-winning play. $30/$26/$15. 1ststagetysons.org. 703-854-1856.

Time Traveler Tuesdays. 4:30 p.m.March 29-June 7. Colvin Run Mill,10017 Colvin Run Road, Great Falls.This weekly series will takeparticipants on an interactive journeythrough time, focusing on a differentperiod in Virginia history each week.Register at http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/colvinrunmill/events.htm.

Weekly Storytime. Wednesday andSaturday. 11 a.m. Barnes & Noble,7851 L Tysons Corner Center,McLean. Themes and Titles vary. Freeadmission.

Tai Chi Beginners’ Practice.Saturdays, 8-9 a.m. St. Luke’sCatholic School Gymnasium, 7005Georgetown Pike, McLean. WeeklyTai Chi practice. Group has met forover 20 years. Free. FreeTaiChi.org.703-759-9141.

THURSDAY/APRIL 14Spanish Storytime with

CommuniKids. 11 a.m. Barnes andNoble Tysons, 7851 L. Tysons CornerCenter, McLean. Give your child thelove of language at a fun, engagingStorytime in Spanish. Join us as wewelcome the animated teachers fromCommuniKids Preschool for a fun-filled Storytime. http://stores.barnesandnoble.com/store/2238.

FRIDAY/APRIL 15Steve Case. 5 p.m. Barnes and Noble

Tysons, 7851 L. Tysons CornerCenter, McLean. Internetentrepreneur Case will speak, takequestions and sign copies of “TheThird Wave.” http://stores.barnesandnoble.com/store/

2238.Glow Party. 7-9 p.m. The Old

Firehouse, 1440 Chain Bridge Road,McLean. A disc jockey keeps the funalive with great music while the gameroom is open for ping-pong, pool andother arcade games. The event will besupervised by Old Firehouse staffers.A parent or guardian (age 18 orolder) must pick-up his or her childby 9 p.m. $25/$35. mcleancenter.org.

SATURDAY/APRIL 16Bluebells at the Bend. 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Riverbend Park, 8700 Potomac HillsSt., Great Falls. Celebrate the VirginiaBluebells as they blanket the banks ofthe Potomac River. Bring the wholefamily for fun including games, music,wildflower walks, wagon rides, andmore. Registration not required.http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/riverbend-park/.

Flower Show. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. GreatFalls Library, 9830 Georgetown Pike,Great Falls. Small Standard FlowerShow presented by The Great FallsGarden Club. A competitive exhibitionof floral designs and horticulture,affiliated with National Garden Clubs,Inc. 703-759-3130.

Spring Community Garage Sale. 9a.m.-1 p.m. 1420 Beverly Road,McLean. Vendor spaces are availableon a first-come, first-served basis for$45. No spaces will be sold on the dayof the sale. Residents selling usedhousehold items are welcome.Limited commercial vendors or fleamarket dealers are also welcome.Advanced registration is required.mcleancenter.org.

New York Neo-Futurists. 8 p.m. TheAlden, 1234 Ingleside Ave., McLean.Theatre for people who want to bepart of the action, love a rush ofadrenaline, take a little of everythingfrom the buffet and are, well… a littlestrange. $25/$15. mcleancenter.org.

SUNDAY/APRIL 17Young Soloists Recital. 3 p.m. The

Alden, 1234 Ingleside Ave., McLean.This free classical music series, now inits 41st season, features professionalmusicians who have woninternational recognition for theirartistry. Free. mcleancenter.org.

Spring Cleaning Workshop. 1-4 p.m.KW Realty Office, 774-A WalkerRoad, Great Falls. Workshop hostedby AV Architects & The Canto Group.www.thecantogroup.org. 703-599-0453.

MONDAY/APRIL 1850+ Employment Expo. 10 a.m.-2

p.m. Sheraton Tysons Hotel, 8661Leesburg Pike, Vienna. Meet jobrecruiters. Attend seminars onchanging careers, online jobsearching, continuing education,starting your own business, jobtraining, and job interviewing. Chiefmeteorologist Doug Hill from ABC 7/WJLA-TV News is the keynotespeaker. Free. Find out more atwww.accessjca.org/50plusjobexpos orcall Micki Gordon at 301-255-4209,TTY 711.

WEDNESDAY/APRIL 20McLean Newcomers and Neighbors

Monthly Luncheon. 11:30 a.m.Brio Tuscan Grille, 1961 Chain BridgeRoad, McLean. CiCi Williams, foodwriter and author, will speak. $32.RSVP by April 15 [email protected].

THURSDAY-SATURDAY/APRIL 21-23“Loserville.” 7:30 p.m. George C.

Marshall High School, 7731 LeesburgPike, Falls Church. It’s 1971 andgeeks shall inherit the Earth in this

high-octane, pop-rock, feel-greatmusical. $15/$10.Statesmentheatre.org. 703-714-5450.

FRIDAY/APRIL 22Bev Ress. 10 a.m.-noon. McLean

Community Center, 1234 InglesideAve., McLean. McLean Art Societywith artist who does 3D naturedrawings. 703-790-0123.

SATURDAY/APRIL 23Meet Corduroy (Costume character

event). 2 p.m. Barnes and NobleTysons, 7851 L. Tysons CornerCenter, McLean. brief Meet & Greetwith Biscuit will follow Storytime.http://stores.barnesandnoble.com/store/2238.

“Goodnight Moon and RunawayBunny.” 2 p.m. McLean CommunityCenter, 1234 Ingleside Ave., McLean.“Goodnight Moon” is a celebration offamiliar nighttime rituals, while “TheRunaway Bunny” is a pretend tale ofleaving home that evokes reassuringresponses from a loving mum. Ages4+. $15/$10. mcleancenter.org.

SUNDAY/APRIL 24Tysons Regional Chamber of

Commerce 5K. 8:30 a.m. NearBloomingdale’s Tysons Corner Center,1961 Chain Bridge Road, McLean.$25-30+. http://www.tysonscharity5k.com/.

Love Worth Fighting For. 5 p.m.McLean Bible Church, 8925 LeesburgPike, Vienna. National marriage eventfeaturing actor Kirk Cameron. $20-$50. www.loveworthfightingfor.com.

Spring Fashion Show. 10 a.m.-noon.Bloomingdale’s Tysons Corner, 8100Tysons Corner Center, McLean. By theGreat Falls Friends and NeighborsScholarship Fund, Inc. Proceeds willgo toward schoarlships to post-college

aged Virginia women. Champagnebrunch, raffle, silent auction. Channel9 news anchor Andrea Roane emcees.www.GFFNSF.org.

THURSDAY/APRIL 28Penny University Event. 7 p.m. Caffe

Amouri, 107 Church St. NE, Vienna.Basis Independent School wants tohear your thoughts on “Creating APositive School Culture.” With Headof School Sean Aiken. Free. To sign-up, [email protected].

FRIDAY-SUNDAY/APRIL 29-MAY 1“Kaleidoscope” Vale Arts Spring

Art Show. Friday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m.Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.Vale Schoolhouse, 3124 Fox MillRoad, Oakton. Nine Local artistsexhibit more than 150 fine artpaintings and [email protected]. 703-860-1888.

Calendar

Photo contributed

“Goodnight Moon and Runaway Bunny” celebratesnighttime rituals on Saturday, April 23 at the McLeanCommunity Center.

Photo contributed

New York Neo-Futurists brings its “theatre for people whowant to be part of the action” on Saturday, April 16 atMcLean Community Center’s The Alden.


Sports

By Jon Roetman

The Connection

Langley senior Nate Shafer, a 6-foot-5 shot-blocking force, admitted heprefers structured basketball over

the run-and-gun style of an all-star game.But while Shafer enjoys a team-oriented

approach, that didn’t stop the defensivestandout from excelling in Sunday’sdmvstream.com Nova Challenge — anevent that featured some of the top seniorsfrom Northern Virginia competing in a pairof all-star games, a 3-point shootout and adunk contest.

Shafer scored 10 points, grabbed 10 re-bounds, blocked seven shots and helped theFairfax North All-Stars defeat the LoudounCounty All-Stars 108-101 on April 10 atMarshall High School.

All-star games are known for offense, butShafer, the 2016 6A North region Defen-sive Player of the Year, made life difficultfor Loudoun County players who tried toscore in the paint.

“I can still apply some tactics that we use[during structured basketball] to an all-stargame,” Shafer said. “I typically find a guythat can’t shoot as well so I can camp in thepaint and that gives me more blocks andmore contested shots and more rebounds,so that sort of pads my stats in an all-stargame like this, which is fun.”

SHAFER, who will play at SwarthmoreCollege, said he enjoyed making defensiveplays in an offensive environment. Duringone possession, Shafer swatted multipleLoudoun County shots.

“Those kinds of plays get the gym on theirfeet,” he said, “so I like to do that.”

Shafer’s teammate at Langley, TavonTarpley, finished with 12 points for the

Fairfax North All-Stars.“I always love playing with T,” Shafer said.

“I’m just glad I [got] another opportunityto do it.”

Blake Francis, a member of the statechampion Westfield Bulldogs, earned teamMVP honors for Fairfax North, finishing with23 points, six rebounds and five assists. Heknocked down a 3-pointer at the halftimebuzzer, cutting the Fairfax North deficit to64-50. Fairfax North outscored LoudounCounty 58-37 in the second half.

Francis, who shot 8-for-17 from the floorand 5-for-12 from 3-point range, is stillweighing his college options.

“It’s good experience,” Francis said, “go-ing against the top talent in the NorthernVirginia area.”

Hank Johnson, Francis’ teammate atWestfield, scored four points and grabbednine rebounds.

“Hank, we’re going to be good friends fora long time,” Francis said. “It’s just goodplaying with him.”

Centreville’s William Unterkofler scored12 points and grabbed four rebounds. Healso won the dunk contest, earning a per-fect score of 30 on his final attempt, whenhe jumped, brought the ball between hislegs and threw it down with his right hand.

Unterkofler will attend Virginia Tech butdoesn’t plan to play basketball. He said hecould first dunk a basketball in ninth grade.

“It was pretty cool,” said the 6-foot-5Unterkofler. “I’ve wanted to be in a dunkcontest for a long time because I practicedunking all the time and I never get to showit, so it’s really exciting to get to come outand do it.”

Fairfax High’s Alex McNaughton, who willplay at Salisbury, scored 17 points and shot6-for-9 from the floor, including 3-for-4

from behind the arc. FellowRebel Manny Miller had sixpoints and seven rebounds.

Marshall’s Tyler White fin-ished with nine points andfive rebounds. ChaseBarrand, White’s teammateat Marshall, had six pointsand three rebounds.

South Lakes’ Marty Gryskiscored two points. Madisonteammates Taiga Walker andDaniel Ungerleider finishedwith four and three points,respectively.

“It feels pretty good,”Ungerleider said about get-ting the victory. “Mostly,we’re just out here having agood time, but [I] alwayswant to win.”

Ungerleider, who will at-tend the University of Vir-ginia but doesn’t plan to playbasketball, reached the finalsof the 3-point shootout.

“It was pretty scary,”Ungerleider said, referring to

media attention during the contest. “I hadto get in a little zone and zone out every-thing around and just shoot.”

EARLIER IN THE DAY, the Prince Will-iam All-Stars defeated the Fairfax South All-Stars 110-107.

West Springfield’s Lewis Djonkam earnedteam MVP honors for Fairfax South. The 6-foot-9 post player scored 19 points andgrabbed 13 rebounds.

Deng Nhial (Wakefield) and Jordan Jones(T.C. Williams) each had 16 points forFairfax South, Tavaris James (T.C. Williams)finished with 14 and Spencer Askew (WestSpringfield) added 11.

“It was great,” Djonkam said about com-peting in the event. “Every kid on the courtI love. I grew up with half the kids on thecourt. … [It was] my last time playing withthe kids. It was great. I loved it.”

The Langley girls’ lacrosse teamis off to its best start since 2009,winning its first seven games.

Langley improved to 7-0 witha 20-4 victory at Washington-Lee on April 7.

Langley is led by first-year head coach andformer Langley and University of Oregonlacrosse standout Maggie Kovacs. CoachKovacs is supported by another Langleyalum, coach Annie Swanson, and localcoach Bucky Morris.

Langley has a strong group of senior co-

captains: Halle Duenkel, MorganKuligowski, Mackenzie Regen andSamantha Suib.

The Saxons have strong chemistry com-ing into this year. Goalie Megan O’Haralooks strong in the net with defensive sup-port from Lilly Byrne, Ali Leto, CharlotteSmith and Lauren Bell. Anna Hofgard, Ma-rina Smith, Emma Crooks, Elise Kim, ClaireO’Connor and Sareena Dhillon have beenbig contributors on the offensive side of theball. Many of the girls have played together

since grade school.A different Saxon led the team in scoring

in each of the first six games.

“We are starting to play like a team,”Kovacs said, “and that’s the only way weare going to achieve our high goals.”

Photo contributed

The Langley girls’ lacrosse team is off to a 7-0 start.

Langley Girls’ LaxStarts 7-0

Madison’s Ungerleider,Walker compete forFairfax North.

Langley’s Shafer Excels at Nova Classic All-Star Event

Langley senior Nate Shafer, middle,finished with 10 points, 10 re-bounds and seven blocks duringthe dmvstream.com Nova Chal-lenge on Sunday.

Langley’s Tavon Tarpley (4), Westfield’sBlake Francis (0) and Madison’s DanielUngerleider (1) competed for the FairfaxNorth All-Stars on Sunday.

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To highlight your Faith Community, call Karen at 703-778-9422

DAILY EUCHARIST:WeekdaysMonday-Friday, 8:30 AMSaturday, 8:30 AM

SUNDAY LITURGY SCHEDULE:Saturday Vigil: 5:30 PMSunday: 7:30, 9:00, and 11:00 AM1:30 PM Spanish Liturgy

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Burglary - 9100 block of LeeHighway, April 8, around 9:45p.m. Someone forced entry into abusiness and stole money. The sus-pect was described as white, in his30s, with some facial hair. He worea black jacket, dark-coloredhoodie, blue jeans and whiteshoes.

Burglary - 9400 block of LeeHighway, 03/27/16, between and2 and 7 a.m. Residents reportedon April 9 that someone stole atelevision from the residence.There were no signs of forced en-try.

Burglary - 9100 block of LeeHighway, between 8 p.m. on April8 and 6:26 a.m. on April 9. Some-one forced entry into a businessand stole money.

Unlawful Entry/Destruc-tion of Property - 900 block ofChinquapin Road, between March24 and April 7. Someone brokeseveral windows of an emptyhome then forced entry and un-lawfully entered the home.

Fraud / Resisting Arrest -1900 block of Chain Bridge Road,April 6, 6:23 p.m. A subject pur-chased two items using false iden-

tification. The Tyson’s Urban Team(TUT) attempted to apprehend thesuspect but he resisted and fled onfoot. A K-9 team assisted the offic-ers with the apprehension. Thesuspect was treated for a dog bite.The suspect was a juvenile andwas taken to the Juvenile Deten-tion Center where petitions wereobtained.

Larcenies1400 block of Balls Hill Road,

electronic device from residence1900 block of Chain Bridge

Road, credit card from residence6900 block of Chestnut Avenue,

wallet from business8000 block of Tysons Corner

Center, merchandise from business1500 block of Laurel Hill Road,

bag and wallet from residence8200 block of Crestwood

Heights Drive, tires from vehicle8100 block of Tysons Corner

Center, items from vehicles1900 block of Chain Bridge

Road, merchandise stolen frombusiness

8100 block of Leesburg Pike, al-cohol stolen from business

2200 block of InternationalDrive, jewelry stolen from business

Notable incidents from the FairfaxCounty Police blotter from April 6-10

McLean Crime Reports


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HomeLifeStyle

By Marilyn Campbell

The Connection

Some of the most spectacu-lar gardens will be inbloom and on display dur-ing the 83rd annual His-

toric Garden Week in Virginia. Thestatewide event will include 30 dif-ferent tours of more than 200homes and gardens. Old Town Al-exandria and Arlington, FallsChurch and Fairfax County areparticipating in the Northern Vir-ginia tours.

“These houses are historic andthey all reflect the homeowners’personalities and interests,” saidCatherine Thompson of the Hunt-ing Creek Garden Club in Alexan-dria. “Some are owned by youngfamilies. Some have small gardensand some have large gardens.”

The Hunting Creek Garden Clubteamed up with The Garden Club

of Alexandria to organize the OldTown tour, a walking tour whichincludes five row houses withcourtyard gardens. In addition tothe private homes, which were allbuilt during the 1700s and 1800sand still retain many original ar-chitectural features, tour goers willhave access to the Carlyle HouseHistoric Park, Lee-Fendall HouseMuseum and Garden, GeorgeMason’s Gunston Hall and GeorgeWashington’s Mount Vernon Estateand Gardens.

From large oak trees plantedshortly after the Civil War and gar-dens bursting with colorful bloomsfrom hydrangeas, camellias,rhododendron, crepe myrtles andwisteria to homes with views ofthe Potomac River and clematisflowing over a pergola, visitors willbe treated to vivid spring displaysas five Old Town residents openboth their homes and gardens.

“People don’t expect to havethese amazing gardens behindthese homes that can appear tinyfrom outside,” said Amy Bertles ofthe Hunting Creek Garden Club.

“One home has two gardens withamazing sculptures that were doneby the home owner who is an art-ist. She decorated her garden witha few of her sculptures.”

In Arlington and Falls Church,Gothic Revival, Greek Revival, Artsand Crafts and Victorian architec-ture await visitors who take thetour hosted by the Garden club ofFairfax. The gardens include four100-year old holly trees, an herbgarden and a garden of Victorian-era plants. Two of the homes areon the National Register of His-toric Places and are Virginia His-toric Landmarks. The tour also in-cludes visits to Mason Neck StatePark, Gulf Branch Nature Centerand The Falls Church.

Properties are chosen for thetour by local garden clubs.“They’re looking for propertiesthat they know the public will en-joy,” said Karen Miller Ellsworthof the Garden Club of Virginia anddirector of Historic Garden Week.“They’re looking for beautiful in-

Historic Garden Week83RD ANNUAL HOUSE AND GARDEN TOUR

Photo by Donna Moulton

This Greek Revival propertyis listed on the NationalRegister of Historic Placesand is a Virginia HistoricLandmark. It is consideredthe fourth oldest house inFalls Church.

Elegant homes and gardens inOld Town, Arlington and FallsChurch will be open to the public.

Historic Garden Week in Virginia teriors, an interesting history anda really nice garden.”

In addition to its aesthetic ap-peal, Historic Garden Week, which3,300 Garden Club of Virginiamembers spend more than a yearplanning, has a significant eco-nomic impact. “[Visitors] travelfrom 30 states and foreign coun-tries and 25 percent ... spend thenight and average $1,207 on their[Historic Garden Week] trip,” saidMiller Ellsworth. “As a group, theyspend $2 million in Virginia eachspring. The cumulative economicimpact over the last 45 years is animpressive $425 million.”

Historic Garden Week began in1927 when the Garden Club ofVirginia organized a flower showand raised $7,000 to save treesplanted by Thomas Jefferson atMonticello. Money raised from theHistoric Garden Week tours fundthe restoration and preservation ofnearly 50 of the Commonwealth’ssignificant historic public gardensas well as a new initiative withVirginia’s state parks.

Arlington-Falls Church tickets can bepurchased online by credit card untilApril 24 by visiting http://gardencluboffairfax.blogspot.com/ orw w w . v a g a r d e n w e e k . o r g / m a i n /tickets.www.vagardenweek.org/.

Falls Church-ArlingtonTuesday, April 26, 201610 a.m. to 4 p.m.Hosted by the Garden Club of Fairfaxhttp://

gardencluboffairfax.blogspot.com/


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Educational InternshipsUnusual opportunity to learn many aspects ofthe newspaper business. Internships availablein reporting, photography, research, graphics.Opportunities for students, and for adultsconsidering change of career. Unpaid. [email protected]

CLASSIFIEDDEADLINESZones 1, 5, 6............................Mon @ noonZones 2, 3, 4 ...........................Tues @ noon

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Kenny Lourie is an Advertising Representative forThe Potomac Almanac & The Connection Newspapers.

By KENNETH B. LOURIE

Wading is theHardest Part

And so it begins, the storm after the calm.Ten weeks or so of relative peace – and somequiet, since my last diagnostic scan. But now,five days ahead of my next scan, scheduledfor April 13, I am emotionally behind. Why(aside from the obvious)? Because eventhough the scan will occur this Wednesday,I/we won’t know the results until the follow-ing Thursday, April 21, eight days later, whenwe see the oncologist for a face-to-faceappointment. Eight days of waiting, eightdays of talking yourself in and out scenariosboth good and bad, eight days of dealingwith the devil – and hopefully not coming toany agreement; and finally, eight days ofrationalizing your prior behavior, justifyingyour current behavior and wonderingwhether any future behavior will reflect thepast, present or territory as yet uncharted.

And of course, it’s the “territory as yetuncharted” (I don’t have to explain what Imean, do I?) that worries and scares me themost. Not having been down this road beforemakes anticipating one’s behavior-to-be/reaction challenging. Oh, I suppose if Ithought about it long enough I could developsome sort of action plan. But it’s thinkingabout such a negative eventuality that seemsand feels counterproductive. It’s almost as ifmy thinking about such realities can some-how contribute to their actual occurrence,so, if I don’t think about it, it won’t happen.How’s that for intelligent thinking? If I don’tthen it won’t. If only it were that simple.

As the old saying goes: “Denial is morethan just a river in Egypt.” For a person origi-nally characterized as “terminal” – inFebruary, 2009, with stage IV, non-small celllung cancer, now living into my eighth yearpost-diagnosis, life is a bit of a double-edgedsword – that cuts both ways: it’s a miraclethat I’m still alive and given the amazing setof totally unexpected circumstances, it’sequally perplexing why I’ve survived thislong. Moreover, how is it possible that I’vebeaten my original life-expectancy odds sosoundly? I mean: am I further from thebeginning or closer to the end? Presumably, Iwas given a “13-month to two-year” progno-sis for a reason. Do I simply ignore theunderlying facts which led my oncologist tomake that statement/prediction? I can’t, andthat’s always my problem during the final fewweeks leading up to my quarterly scan andthe subsequent follow-up appointment withmy oncologist. This can’t go on forever, canit?

As much as I’d like to blur my reality, mynature prevents me from doing so. Andthough I may not dwell on it or allow it todominate my conversation or becomedepressed or morose about any of it, I doacknowledge its affect; mostly with humorand off-putting redirection. Figurativelyspeaking, how does one live with both theweight of the world on your shoulders andthe sword of Damocles hanging over yourhead without ignoring certain facts and fig-ures and making light somehow of anextremely heavy burden?

Generally, I can manage, as you regularreaders know. And as friends and family willattest, when there are fissures in my emo-tional underpinnings, it is during this two-week period – which occurs every 13 weeks,leading up to and then waiting for scanresults when I am the most uncomfortable.And though it is all very familiar to me – afterseven-plus years, it still doesn’t totally mini-mize my reaction. Let’s be honest: my life isat stake here, so how can I possibly act nor-mally? Soon I’ll know, but not soon enough.Unfortunately, there’s nothing I can do aboutit in the interim. I just have to wait. Hope-fully, the results will be worth the wait.

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-TheodoreRoosevelt

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