Wednesday, January 31, 2024

 

Wednesday, January 31, 2024 

   

 I was exhausted and depressed. I spent most of the day sleeping. I skipped the kapuna mahjong gathering. It was too much for the day. I had driveway yoga in the morning, a  mammogram at eleven, tutoring at Ulu Wini at midday, and a session with Adolescent D later.

   When I arrived at the mammogram appointment, I asked the woman what extra precautions they take for my dense breast tissue, which I have because I never had kids. The other day, I just heard about the problems getting an accurate reading on dense breast tissue.

    She told me they used 3D imaging designed to deal with the issue. They had just got it in August. I thought, “God bless, Kaiser. Right on top of the issue. How lucky am I to have them as my health care provider.”  While it is true that both Mike and I thought we got the best health care we ever got right here in Hawaii through Kaiser, they were not the first in town to get a 3D imaging machine. My friend Jean said her provider has used 3D imaging for the last three years. Now, that was a disappointment.

   At Ulu Wini today, 6th grade Ch asked me for help. This is the girl Josephine asked me to work with in the beginning. She believed she had never been to school. Ch told me a different story. Either way, she had trouble reading. This was only the third time I worked with her. The first time, she was avoidant. I talked about her fear directly. She calmed down. She made progress in her reading after two sessions. Ipo and Josephine reported the success. Today, she was fully focused, downright demanding- hungry for more. I usually meet with a child for ten to twenty minutes. She pushed me for at least half an hour. I wanted to give up before she did.

 I worked with third-grade K on comprehension. She did very well. I don’t know why she had problems the other day. She must have been tired or just not in the mood and blew me off. First-grade K was still not using automatic recall. I spoke to his father and encouraged him to focus on the process of remembering rather than the list of words. He is supposed to use the words to practice how to memorize. The same was true with second-grade T.

   Today was Pantry Day. The adults came down to collect bags of free food. I loved sitting there. While the parents didn’t relate much to each other, I loved the sense of community. I understand there are tribal conflicts among the families who live in the Ulu Wini community.