August 2011~

Hello!  Dougie Cranston here.  Thought an update was in order, so here goes nothing ...

I am doing well: am in eighth grade now; just started back to school two days ago.  It is great to see all my friends again, but I am not looking forward to doing homework all over again!  Or getting up at the crack of dawn ... oh, well, at least I have the weekends to look forward to!

Grandma is doing great, too.  She loves having me with her.  Well, the feeling is mutual.  The stress level is so much less than it was back home.  I miss my mom and dad and I even miss Tybee, my brother, but I couldn't handle the amount of care he needed, so I opted to move in with grandma, where I am a lot happier.

Tybee was left brain damaged/physcially disabled after a near-drowning accident over a year ago.  He had been without oxygen for over six minutes and it was enough to cause lethal damage to his brain.  He can no longer walk, talk, or do anything on his own; it's really depressing because I know how he used to be, vrerses as to how he is now, and it makes me very sad.

I know now that the accident wasn't my fault, but for a time I thought it was.  I am still seeing my counselor at the mental health clinic and I am still helping out with children who have special needs ... children who are like my brother ...., and it's really opened my eyes in more ways than I ever thought possible.

I do that every Friday during lunch period at school; that day I get to eat out at the hospital, which is always cool.  And I get to see the kids; they are really cool!  I've learned that they can do some things, and they have feelings as well, even though they might not express them as you or I do.  They aren't completely helpless, as some people are inclined to believe.

This year I am trying out for the football team.  I should find out Friday or Saturday if I made it.  I hope I do.  It would be a good way for me to relieve some pent-up stress, anger, or frustration that I've let build up inside of me ever since Tybee became handicapped.  I don't plan on hurting people when I do play football, but I gotta get rid of some of this stuff inside of me; it's not good for me to keep it in as long as I have!

If I do make it to the football team, our first game will be next Friday.  I will have practice on Tuesday and scrimmage on Thursday.  Then the game will commence.  Hopefully this year will be a better year for the team: last year, if I remember correctly, they sucked.  They really sucked.  They ddin't win a single game!  It was totally pathetic!

Maybe If I get on the team, I can work some of the old Cranston Magic and inject some life into them!  :)

Well, I am getting ready to go to my next class.  I will write in here again soon with another update.  Hopefully things will continue to go well for not only me, but my family as well, particularly my brother.  He may no longer be as he was, but I still love him and care for him!  I guess I always will; after all he's still family!

Take care and God bless; talk to you later!

~Dougie.

~To be continued.~